The protestors obstructed vehicular movement along the Kalaiya-Birgunj road section while the local women took to the streets armed with batons. Even former assistant minister Kalawati Paswan was one among the participants in the demonstration. Some of the businessmen also closed their shops to show solidarity to the protest.

“As the matter is of grave concern for the whole society, we downed our shutters to exert pressure,” said one businessman. While the bazaar remained shut and vehicles stayed off the road due to fear of reprisal, only ‘tangas’ (horse driven carriages) were seen plying on the streets.

“The whole society has been distressed while the ineffectiveness of the police administration has further saddened the victim’s family,” said local leader and politician Mukti Yadav.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police Ishor Babu Karki said that he was not in a position to comment on the matter as the case was currently under investigation.

“We will make the guilty public once we arrest him,” Karki said, adding that he did not want to keep the people in the dark by providing false assurances.

The minor was raped and subsequently murdered last Saturday. Police and local residents had found her in a bush behind Kalaiya Hospital in an unconscious state, naked and bleeding. Doctors at Narayani Sub-regional Hospital in Birgunj later declared her dead upon arrival. Enraged at repeated incidents of rape and murder, local people vented ire at the government by staging a demonstration in Kalaiya last Sunday too.