Two weeks after a rape victim was denied filing complaint against the culprits, Nepal Police on Thursday admitted that its unit in Durbarmarg had gravely mishandled the gang rape case. Four men had raped a woman in Landmark Hotel on January 25.

The woman, in her statements, has said she was offered momo and wine by a man she knew for the past six months. After the drink, she “felt drowsy and lethargic”. The four men took her to the hotel and undressed her. “A person who ‘called himself a police’ recorded video of the incident on his mobile phone,” she said. But police, instead of investigating the case, had forced the victim to settle the case with the perpetrators.

The Metropolitan Police Range, Teku, said in a statement on Thursday that they have relieved DSP Tilak Bharati as chief of Durbarmarg Police Circle. Inspector Laxman Singh Thakuri and Sub-Inspector Chandra Bhandari have been already suspended.

Spokesperson for the range Superintendent of Police Ram Dutta Joshi said they had submitted the report to SSP Rabindra Dhanuk, chief of Kathmandu Police. “Investigations are ongoing. The police officials will also be investigated on criminal charges although we are yet to establish financial gains that police officials allegedly made from this case,” said SP Joshi, who headed the probe committee after the Durbarmarg incident surfaced in the media.

According to the report, Inspector Thakuri not only urged the victim to settle the issue with the rapists but he also tried to prevent the victim from lodging a complaint against them.

“The victim was also forced to drop the case against the perpetrators by offering her Rs2.7 million in hush money,” the report says.

Police said they are looking for four perpetrators—Bikash Gautam, Sailesh Karki, Deepak Shrestha and Rabi Poudel—against whom the victim has filed the complaint.