Govt to contain murder, gender-based violence, Home Minister says

Kathmandu / Sept 23: Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has said that the government is working to contain the cases of murder and violence taking place in the country.

Informing the National Assembly today regarding the issues of murder and violence raised by the lawmakers today, Minister Thapa committed to controlling the cases of violence and murder through stern laws and political commitment. “The government is working to control the murder and violence in the country. It is needed to move ahead by maintaining unity among the government, House and people to make the society free of murder and violence,” the Home Minister said.

Saying that murder of Nirmala Panta was a representative incident of gender-based violence, Minister Thapa assured to bring the murderers to laws though the investigations were delayed due to serious weaknesses and irresponsibility of the bodies concerned.

Arguing that full security was possible in the society through the coordination between the government and citizens, Minister Thapa stated that campaigns should be initiated from the ward-level by mechanism.

Over the demise of Rammanohar Yadav of Bardiya, Minister Thapa said that Yadav died of brain hemorrhage not due to police torture. “The cases of violence are reduced compared to the past. Law and order have been better,” the Home Minister claimed.

Meanwhile, Minister Thapa said this year’s floods and landslides claimed 100 lives and 143 have sustained injuries and more than 2,000 houses were damaged in the monsoon flooding and landslides since this May.

Probe committee submits report on Nirmala Panta’s case to MoHA

Meanwhile, the committee formed to probe into the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta of Kanchanpur district has submitted its report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) today.

The probe team coordinated by Hari Prasad Mainali met Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa and submitted its report.

Nirmala Panta (13) of Bhimdattanagar Municipality in Kanchanpur district was raped and murdered on July 26. Her body was found in a sugarcane field the following day. A forensic report showed that she was raped and strangled to death.

Earlier, MoHA on August 23 had formed a committee led by Mainali to probe into the murder case after the role of police, involved in the investigation of the case, was found dubious and the investigation did not progress an inch further.

The probe committee formed thereafter had submitted its preliminary report to the MoHA on September 15. As per the report, police investigation into the case was deemed weak; the MoHA had suspended five police officials including two Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) for gross negligence in the investigation of the case.

The newly presented report has incorporated various matters including circumstances of the incident, and the weakness of the police officials in the investigation.

Receiving the report, Minister Thapa asserted that guilty would be brought to book by implementing the report submitted by the probe committee. RSS