KATHMANDU, JUNE 24

Bhaktapur, which rarely creates news of social or political issues inside Kathmandu valley, has recorded a total of 120 incidents of human rights violation in the past six months.

Informal Sector Service Centre, a human right organisation, today said this during the pre-semester review programme organised by the District Coordination Committee that studied human rights condition in the district from January 2023 to June 2023.

Releasing the report, INSEC Bhaktapur representative Ramesh Giri said one murder, four attempted murders, 21 rapes, 2 attempted rapes, 5 child sexual abuse and 2 polygamy cases were reported in the past six months. Similarly, 51 women were victims of indecent behaviour, 32 women were victims of domestic violence and two were abetted for suicide.

In the programme, head of district coordination committee Bhaktapur Ishwar Thapa said the state itself was inciting cases of political violence. He urged IN- SEC to broaden the scope of human rights investigation. 'The state is involved in violence and causing human crisis, increasing prices and making it difficult to live,' Thapa said.

In the programme, Chief District Officer of Bhaktapur Khagendra Prasad Rizal said, 'Despite the formation of the Human Rights Commission, the INSEC has been taking the existing description of human rights to the national and international level.' He highlighted the cases of polygamy, underage marriage and other social offences that are still rampant in the district.

DSP Basant Pathak of District Police Range Bhaktapur said the use of narcotic drug and its smuggling and cybercrime were on the rise in Bhaktapur. He also sought support from all sides to tackle the issue.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 25, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.