The Patan High Court has endorsed the decision of Kathmandu District Court to send former speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara to prison for judicial custody in the case of attempting to rape federal parliament secretariat staffer Roshni Shahi.
A joint bench including Chief Justice of the Patan High Court Nahakul Subedi and Justice Tek Narayan Kunwar hearing the appeal filed by Mahara has endorsed the lower court's decision on Thursday, according to section officer at the court Dhruba Subedi.
The joint bench has said Mahara cannot be released on the basis of available evidence, and instructed the district court to conclude the case within a month.
Mahara had appealed against the Kathmandu District Court order to send him to prison for judicial custody.
The Kathmandu District Court on November 4 had sent Mahara to prison during the course of case deeming that he seems to have attempted to rape Shahi.
Mahara was arrested on October 6 on charge of attempting to rape federal parliament secretariat staffer Roshni Shahi at her rented apartment on September 29.
Recording of Mahara's statement was completed on November 1. He has claimed that he reached near Shahi's apartment that evening but did not meet the victim.
Shahi had claimed an inebriated Mahara reached her rented apartment in Tinkune with a bottle of whiskey when there was no one else in the apartment and raped her.
She had called the police within an hour of the alleged incident and a team from Metropolitan Police Circle, New Baneshwore had immediately reached her rented apartment in Tinkune and recorded details from her.
The video statement recorded by the police at the site of incident that night was considered the strongest evidence in the charge-sheet filed with the court.
Shahi claimed, in the video interview given to journalist Ajay Babu Shiwakoti the next day, that Mahara hurriedly went out after she threatened to complain to police.
The police had recovered broken spectacles and insole of shoe from Shahi's apartment on the night of incident. Tests have showed the power of recovered spectacles is similar to that used by Mahara. This is the second strongest evidence against Mahara.
