Kathmandu, September 29

Hundreds of people participated in a protest programme at Maitighar today, demanding that the government make public the report of a high-level investigation committee on the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta.

Nirmala, a 13-year old girl of Bhimdatta Municipality in Kanchanpur district was reported missing on July 26 and her body was found in a sugarcane field the next day.

A high-level investigation committee lead by Joint Secretary Hari Prasad Mainali was formed by the government to investigate the case after local police officers botched up the preliminary investigation.

The probe committee had submitted the report to Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa behind closed doors on September 25.  Participants of the protest programme also decried the government’s silence and demanded that the culprit/s be booked as soon as possible.

The demonstrators condemned Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the Minister of Home Affairs Ram BahadurThapa for ‘protecting the criminals while trying to politicise the matter. They also accused the government authorities of deliberately destroying evidences at the place where Nirmala’s body was found.

Human rights organisations have also demanded that the government thoroughly investigate Roshani Bam and Babita Bam who were the last persons to see Nirmala before she went missing. They have also accused the government of torturing innocent people in the name of police investigation.