KATHMANDU, MAY 30

Four members of the House of Representatives have notified the Federal Parliament Secretariat seeking permission to introduce stricture on removal of statute of limitation in rape cases.

Lawmakers filing an application to the secretariat include Dila Sangraula Pant, Sujata Pariyar, Pramila Rai, and Rangamati Shahi.

They have demanded that the Parliament make an amendment to the Criminal Code Act-2017 by removing the statute of limitation in the heinous crime of rape. 'It is requisite to make timely amendment to the act to ensure legal action against perpetrators and justice for victims, no matter when the crime was committed,' they said.

They have also proposed that the government take the responsibility for safety and rehabilitation of victims, free treatment, and counselling. 'The removal of statute of limitation in rape cases will also encourage victims to come forward and sue perpetrators,' lawmakers said.

Under the existing provision in the act, complaints of rape must be filed within one year of the date of the commission of crime. This is grossly restrictive as it prevents many victims from having access to legal remedy and justice. Activists in Nepal have taken to the streets after a survivor made public allegations of rape that was committed eight years ago, when she was 16. Police arrested the alleged perpetrator on May 21 and booked him under Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act-2007 due to expiry of time-limit of one year for filing a complaint with the law enforcement agency.

The restrictive and inadequate length of limitation fails to take into account the stigma that women and girls face when reporting cases of sexual and gender-based violence and prevents them from accessing legal remedy, leading to impunity. The statute of limitation in Nepal is further reduced to three months when the offence is committed against a person held in detention, taken into control, kidnapped, or taken hostage. The law stipulates that no complaint shall be filed after the expiry of three months from the date of release from such detention, control, kidnapping, or hostage taking.

Before the commencement of penal code, the statute of limitation in rape cases was 35 days. Still, the provision of one-year statute of limitation in the penal code remains insufficient and continues to deny legal remedy for victims who file complaints after one year. In 2008, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights representative noted that 'the statutory limit is used as an excuse by police for not filing complaints in rape cases'.

During Nepal's third cycle of Universal Periodic Review in January 2021, at least four member states recommended Nepal to remove the statute of limitations on rape and other sexual violence which Nepal did not accept. Nepal has, however, accepted recommendations of a dozen member states on addressing sexual and gender-based violence.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 31, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.