National
Officers involved in Nirmala’s case under probe
A team formed to investigate the police officials who had misled the probe into the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Pant has arrived in Kanchanpur to meet with the stakeholders. The team collected information from Nirmala’s family, activists, civil society leaders and journalists.Bhawani Bhatta
A team formed to investigate the police officials who had misled the probe into the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Pant has arrived in Kanchanpur to meet with the stakeholders. The team collected information from Nirmala’s family, activists, civil society leaders and journalists.
On September 16, Nepal Police formed a nine-member committee, led by the then Deputy Inspector General Dhiru Basnyat, to look into the role of police officers who oversaw the widely criticised investigation process. Basnyat has now been promoted to Additional Inspector General of Nepal Police.
Twenty-six police officials including the then SP Dilliraj Bista have been called to the Police Headquarters in Naxal, Kathmandu.
Basnyat has requested all stakeholders to share information, and help in the police investigation.
“We are investigating into the suspicious role of police officers in the handling of Nirmala’s case,” said AIG Basnyat.
Nirmala was found raped and strangled to death in a sugarcane field near her house in Bhimdutta Municipality, Kanchanpur, on July 27.
Local residents have accused the police of protecting the culprits. A probe committee formed by the government corroborated the charges in its preliminary report.
Advocate Punam Chand demanded the government to take immediate action against the police officers involved in the preliminary investigation of Pant’s rape and murder.
“We have demanded to take legal actions rather than departmental action against the officers,” said Chand.
AIG Basnyat said the team also met with the doctors of the Mahakali Zonal Hospital who performed a post-mortem on Pant and discussed about the report. He assured that his team will take strong action against the police officers if they are found guilty.