The Home Ministry has expressed commitment to investigate and punish the perpetrators in the case of drugging and raping a minor in course of a beauty pageant eight years ago.
The ministry issuing a statement on Saturday has stated that its attention has been drawn seriously due to the news reports, social media postings, discussion of the issue in the House on Friday and the subsequent ruling by Speaker Agni Sapkota instructing the government to investigate and punish the perpetrators.
"The Government of Nepal is always committed to promptly finding the facts through investigation in such issues and punishing the guilty severely," the statement adds.
The ministry has already formed a probe committee led by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basanta Kunwar and also including Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishna Koirala, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kopila Chudal and Hari Basnet, and Inspector Sapana Khadka. "The committee has already started its work. The Home Ministry requests everyone to cooperate with the committee in investigation," the statement adds.
A woman recently revealed through videos on the social media that she was raped in course of Miss Global International 2014, a beauty pageant, while she was 16.
Neapli Congress (NC) lawmaker Gagan Thapa raised the issue in the House on Friday and demanded that the statute of limitations in the Criminal Code be reviewed.
The statute of limitations requires that a rape case be filed within a year of offense if the victim is an adult, and within a year of the victim completing 18 years if the victim is a minor. The victim in the case is currently 24.
Speaker Sapkota then referred to Thapa’s speech and stated that his attention had been seriously drawn to the issue and instructed the government to investigate the case and punish the perpetrators.
The victim claimed that promoter of Model Global Visas Consultancy Manoj Pandey spiked her drinks during a program at a hotel eight years ago. She added that Pandey threatened her the next morning saying he had nude photos and video of her taken during the night when she was inebriated and would publish them if she lodged a complaint.
She revealed that Pandey continued to blackmail and rape her for six months. Pandey, allegedly, also brought his friends and made them rape her in front of him during the period.
She stated in the revelations that she took some friends of hers to Pandey’s consultancy after six months and told every staffer there about his misdeeds producing the call records and texts he had sent to her during the intervening period.
