National
Robbers gang-rape Dhanusha woman
A group of robbers gang-raped a 27-year-old woman at Kshireshwarnath-7 in Dhanusha on Saturday night.Shyam Sundar Shashi
The woman was living with her 12-year-old son after she separated from her husband around four years ago. Her son, however, was not at home at the time of the incident. Her husband, Pramod Mahato, has been living at his ancestral home in Kshireshwor Municipality. The woman was running her own business rearing and selling goats.
According to local Ram Kisun Yadav, the woman called her neighbours immediately after robbers entered her house but the robbers snatched the phone away from her. It was only after hearing her cry for help that locals gathered around. “She was naked and there was blood all over her porch when we reached there,” a neighbour said. A local woman wrapped her up with a saree.
Though locals immediately informed Area Police Office in Mahendranagar located at 10-minutes’ walking distance, the security personnel reached the incident site about an hour later. She was then rushed to Janakpur Zonal Hospital in police van.
Police suspected that local youths could be involved in the incident but no one has been arrested yet. Inspector Ganesh Bahadur Thapa said the hunt for the criminals is under way. He said around a dozen robbers made off with cash, gold and silver worth more than Rs 100,000 from the victim’s house.
Meanwhile, lawmaker Shatrughan Mahato who also reached the hospital to inquire about the victim demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators.
Three-year-old raped
BARDIYA: A three-year-old girl has been raped at Neulapur in Bardiya district. Seventeen-year-old Keshav Bohara was arrested on the charge of raping the minor.
The accused allegedly took the victim in a secluded place near a settlement and committed the crime on Saturday. Police said the perpetrator lured the victim when she was alone at home. The girl’s mother had gone to collect fodder while her father is in India for employment. After the incident, the perpetrator and his relatives exerted pressure to the victim’s family to remain tight-lipped about the incident.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Dipak Basnet said a team of security personnel from the Area Police Office in Bhurigaun arrested the suspect. Police said they have filed a rape case against the accused. (PR)
Nepali raped, murdered
India to provide compensation
KAMAL PANTHI (GULARIYA)
The Indian government has declared that it will provide Rs 500,000 as compensation to the family of a 28-year-old mentally challenged woman from Rajapur-10 in Bardiya who was raped and murdered in Rothak in Haryana, India.
The victim’s relatives said that Haryana’s Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar made such announcement after police charged eight men, including a Nepali national, for the crime.
Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent of Police Shashank Anand of Rohtak Police has informed Superintendent of Police Govinda Ram Pariyar in Bardiya that the perpetrators have been remanded into custody for further investigation. The accused are Nepali national Santosh BK of Pyuthan and Mandir Singh, Pramod Jath, Sunil Jath, Sarowar Singh, Rajesh Jath, Sunil Singh and Pawan of Rothak. According to the victim’s relatives,
one of the perpetrators, Sombir Jath, committed suicide after the incident. A group of nine men had gang-raped and subsequently murdered the woman on February 1. Police had found her body four days later in a field by a highway at Bahu Ahkbarpur near Rohtak. “We haven’t yet received DNA test results and are yet to find an advocate to fight the case on our behalf,” the victim’s sister Janaki said, adding that they are trying to find a lawyer on their own though the state government will appoint one for the same. Legal practitioner, however, are unwilling to fight for the case in fear of local goons.
Janaki, meanwhile, said local authorities have provided security to her family as they were under constant threats from local criminal gangs. She and her husband earn a living operating a small mobile food stall in the Indian city. The victim had gone to Rothak in order to seek treatment for her mental disorder.
Janaki said various organisations representing Nepalis living in India have been helping them with the case.