Protests against the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Pant in Kanchanpur have been postponed until Dashain, the biggest Hindu festival.  

Local women, rights activists and the victim’s family staged a demonstration in Mahendranagar on Tuesday and announced to suspend all the protest programmes, considering the festival season. The agitators took out a protest rally that converged into a corner meeting at Madak Chowk.

Addressing the meeting, Coordinator of Citizen Struggle Committee Mina Bhandari announced that all protest programmes had been postponed until Dashain. She said the struggle committee took the decision thinking that it might affect people returning home for Dashain and also hit trade and business during the festival.

The protesters also submitted a memorandum to Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa through the District Administration Office, demanding that the government take action against the police officers for their negligence during the investigation into the case and bring the guilty to book immediately.

Bhandari read out the memorandum before handing over it to Assistant Chief District Officer (CDO) Shankar Bista. “The police officers, who were found responsible for destroying the evidence by the high-level prove committee, should be punished under criminal code,” the memorandum says.

Various groups of the locals and rights activists have been protesting, demanding justice for the teenager. The local women, who have staged sit-in at Madan Chowk for 10 consecutive days since September 29, also postponed their agitation on Monday. Another agitating group under the banner of Dababmulak Sangharsha Samiti had decided to suspend the agitation two days ago.

“We will launch a strong protest after Dashain if the authorities fail to nab the culprits,” said rights activist Maya Negi.

The body of Nirmala, the ninth grader at a local school, was found in a sugarcane field in Bhimdutta Munciapality-18, Kanchanpur, on July 27, a day after she was reported missing.

No progress in investigation

It has been 76 days since the gruesome murder, but the authorities have failed to make much headway into the investigation. Separate probe teams of the Central Investigation Bureau, Police Headquarters, District Police Office and SP Durga Singh have been working in the district for the past month, but they have yet to name the culprits. DSP Krishna Raj Ojha said interrogation of suspicious persons was on.