Lawmakers from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), including Khagendra Sunar, have been staging a sit-in protest at the gate of the District Administration Office, Sindhuli, for the past 12 hours.
They have been protesting since Thursday evening, demanding justice for 22-year-old Shree Krishna BK of Jumle Danda, Sunkoshi Rural Municipality-3, who died in police custody.
Participants in the protest include RSP lawmakers Sunar, Rima Bishwokarma, Sushma Swarnakar, Khima Bishwakarma, and Ashish Gajurel, along with intellectuals and some locals of Jumle Danda.
"We have been at the gate of the District Administration Office for 12 hours," Sunar wrote on Facebook. His personal aide, Arjun Sunar, said that they remained at the protest site throughout the night.
BK’s relatives allege that he was tortured to death by the police.
BK had entered into an inter-caste love marriage with a 17-year-old girl from Khotang on April 11.
He had been living in Lalitpur with his younger brother but returned to Sindhuli after marriage.
On April 16, the Satdobato Police Circle in Lalitpur summoned them, saying the girl's family wanted to talk. However, upon arrival, BK was taken into custody and sent to Sindhuli the following day.
Lalitpur Police said that after the girl filed a rape complaint, he was sent to Sindhuli for further investigation as the alleged incident took place there.
On April 20, BK was found dead in police custody at the Area Police Office, Khurkot.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Surya Prakash Subedi, spokesperson for the District Police Office, Sindhuli, BK was found unconscious in custody with a shirt tied around his neck. He was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead by doctors, said DSP Subedi.
However, relatives claim he died due to police beatings in custody. They have been protesting in front of the District Police Office and District Court for the past four days.
After they refused to accept the body and demanded an investigation, a probe committee was formed on April 21. Assistant Chief District Officer of Sindhuli Dipendra Paudel said that the investigation is ongoing.
“We are investigating this incident seriously. The facts will come out after the inquiry,” he said.
BK was arrested in Lalitpur on April 16 on charges of raping a 17-year-old girl. However, his family claims the two had entered into a consensual love marriage.
According to SP Gautam Mishra of the District Police Range, Lalitpur, since the alleged incident site was Khurkot, BK was sent there in coordination with Sindhuli Police for further investigation.
“We arrested the accused after the complaint was registered and sent him to Khurkot along with the original complaint on April 17,” he said. “We are not aware of what happened after that.”
On April 17, the District Police Office obtained a five-day remand from the Sindhuli District Court and kept him in custody.
However, BK’s family and relatives present a different account.
They claim that the rape allegation was filed because of his inter-caste marriage and accuse the police of deliberately beating him to death.
We also spoke with his younger brother Umesh, who lived with him in Lalitpur.
According to Umesh, BK worked as a driver. The girl from Khotang lived near their rented room, and they fell in love. After a two-year relationship, they got married on April 11.
“He brought her to our room on the April 11 saying he had married her,” Umesh said.
Two days later, they went to their home in Sindhuli.
“She told the family too that she had come willingly,” Umesh said.
According to him, after repeated calls from the Satdobato Police Circle saying the girl’s family wanted to talk, they returned to Lalitpur on April 16.
They arrived in Kathmandu in the afternoon, and police asked them to visit around 5 p.m., Umesh said.
“When we reached the office, the girl’s family was also there,” he said. “Police questioned them, and the girl said she had gone willingly.”
According to Umesh, when police initially said that they would initiate action against BK for child marriage, the girl requested them not to do so. Police then suggested that since the legal age for marriage had not been met, they should live separately for two years and marry later.
“The discussion lasted nearly two hours. As no case would be filed against my brother if they lived separately for two years, the girl also agreed,” he said.
However, according to Umesh, the situation changed after the girl’s uncle arrived. Umesh said that the uncle came shouting that they should not let off so easily and spoke with police. After his arrival, they were not allowed inside, said Umesh.
Despite an agreement between both sides, police said around 9:30 p.m. that BK could not be released immediately and told Umesh to return at 9 a.m. the next day.
“After informing relatives that he was being kept at Satdobato Police Circle, we went to the Satodobato police office at 8 o’clock the next morning. When we reached there, police told us that they had sent him Khurkot,” Umesh said.
According to Umesh, they were unable to contact the girl afterward and he returned to the village with relatives the same day.
“It was only after reaching Khurkot that we learned he had been charged with rape,” he said.
He said that he spoke with the girl after that.
“She was also surprised when I told her that police had taken my brother into custody. She had apparently been told that he had been released,” he said.
SP Mishra of Lalitpur said that the process was moved forward based on the complaint.
“When a minor files a rape complaint, police do not look into whether they are married or not,” he said.
Umesh claims that since BK was taken into custody in Khurkot, police did not listen to them at all.
“That’s why we believe he was beaten. Otherwise, we demand that the CCTV footage of the place where he was found hanging be made public,” he said.
After the family refused to allow a postmortem, a probe committee was formed under the leadership of Assistant Chief District Officer Paudel.
