Kathmandu, June 15

The Central Investigation Bureau has arrested a 66-year-old Dutch national on the charge of paedophilia and rescued a minor from his clutches.

The CIB said Piet Hein Van Terwisga (passport number NS3DRBKP6) of Doetinchem, Netherlands, had been visiting Nepal frequently. He lured children of poor and disadvantaged groups with money and delicacies.

“We raided a hotel in Thamel and arrested him and rescued a minor,” said SP Buddhiraj Gurung, CIB spokesperson. He informed that Terwisga was a paediatrician.

“We were keeping constant vigil acting on information that some foreign citizens are molesting children and making them victims of paedophilia for a long time. The arrest of the Dutch national was part of this operation,” SP Gurung said.

Meanwhile, Kathmandu District Court has remanded the Dutch national to seven-day judicial custody.

According to Number 9(A) of Chapter 14 of Muluki Ain, a person who commits sodomy (any kind of unnatural sexual intercourse) with a minor shall be considered to have committed an offence of rape and the offender shall be liable to up to 11 years of imprisonment. The court may also make an order to provide appropriate compensation to such a minor from the offender upon considering the age and trauma suffered by the minor.

Sexual exploitation of minors by international tourists, especially men, has become a growing menace in Kathmandu valley.

CIB has arrested six foreigners in connection with paedophilia over a period of one-and-a-half years. Of them, five were held from the valley.

According to CIB, it has been keeping a constant vigil against foreign citizens who come to Nepal to molest minors under the cover of tourists.

It warned that a section of international tourists was molesting Nepali children and making them victims of paedophilia.

Foreign paedophiles take advantage of a young mind and try to make it look consensual besides using fear to keep the victims silent.

They are also capitalising on the innocence of Nepali children. Minors are soft targets since they cannot resist the perpetrators.