Women right defenders have condemned the government’s inaction over the incident where a women’s shelter in Dhading was demolished by the District Forest Office (DFO).

On September 24, the DFO had bulldozed the building of Sneha Kendra at Neelkantha Municipality on charge of encroaching upon the land owned by a local community forest. The DFO had also demolished the building of a local radio station.

Women rights defenders have claimed that the building of Sneha Kendra was bulldozed without prior notice while people were still inside.

 “The incident has put women right activists working in the district at risk. We are concerned about their security as  all stakeholders have remained silent about the issue,” said Bimala Tamang, vice president of National Alliance of Women Human Right Defenders.

The alliance has also published a report on the incident and demanded the government to launch an investigation and book the guilty.

It has also sent the copies of report to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, the National  Human Rights Commission and various political parties.

Earlier, women’s rights defenders from Dhading had drawn the attention of Prime Minister Puspha Kamal Dahal to the incident demanding the government to investigate why the DFO resorted to such action.