KATHMANDU: The Legislature-Parliament meeting on Tuesday unanimously endorsed the Anti Witchcraft (Crime and Punishment) Bill, 2071 B.S.

Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Nilam KC had presented the bill for approval at the Parliament. During the ensuing discussion over the bill, lawmakers urged the government to put in place an effective arrangement to contain the spiraling attacks on purported witches and women and bring the culprits to book.

The bill proposes to incarcerate the person convicted of maltreatment of the assumed witches for maximum 15 years and a fine of Rs 100,000. The proposed bill was introduced to make inhumane acts of torturing the accused witches punishable and eradicate pervasive social defects and superstitions.

Parliament's Women, Children, Senior Citizens and Social Welfare Committee Chairperson Ranju Kumari Jha presented a report of the committee in relation to the bill after a studious discussion.

More bills produced

The government produced Public Procurement (1st Amendment) Bill, 2072, Rajarshi Janak University Bill, 2071, Nepalgunj University Bill, 2071, Immunization Bill, 2071 and Pokhara Health Science Academy, Bill 2071 before the Parliament today.

At the meeting today, Minister for Education Chitralekha Yadav, on behalf of the Prime Minister, presented three bills while Health Minister Khagaraj Adhikari tabled two bills for deliberations.

Instruction for document

Speaker Subas Nembang today said the proposal for deliberation on the Appropriation Bill, 2072 which the Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat presented was removed from today’s agenda as necessary documents from National Planning Commission for discussion had not been received. The next Parliamentary session is scheduled for 3 pm on July 31.