Kathmandu, December 28 Lawmakers, particularly from the main opposition Nepali Congress, today criticised the government for failing to arrest the culprit(s) involved in the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta of Bhimdatta Municipality, Kanchanpur. They also flayed the government for failing to properly address the concerns of government employees in the Civil Service Employee Adjustment Ordinance. Speaking at the special hour in the House of Representatives, NC Whip Puspa Bhusal asked the government when it would earnestly start investigation into the rape and murder of Nirmala. Nirmala’s body was found in a sugarcane field in Kanchanpur on July 26. “It has been around four months since Nirmala was raped and murdered. When will the government arrest the culprit (s)?” she asked, adding that the government should first investigate those police officers who effaced evidence from the incident site. Bhusal said the government had tried to frame innocent people. “Police arrested two innocent youths — Pradip Rawal and Bishal Chaudhary — and tortured them,” she said. “Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ishwor Pokharel had said that the government found the culprits and asked the opposition party not to politicise the case. However, the government doesn’t seem to have any progress in investigating the case so far,” she said. Bhusal said Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Co-chair Dahal had said something completely different during the Parliament meeting on Wednesday that there were some lapses in investigation. Stating that the government was not properly investigating the case, Bhusal said the NC would  protect Nirmal’s father and mother who were facing injustice. Another NC lawmaker Ram Bahadur Bista said he wondered whether it was a government of the people or the NCP alone. Nepal Workers and Peasants Party lawmaker Prem Suwal said the government should punish those involved in effacing the evidence in Nirmala murder case. NC lawmaker Gagan Thapa criticised Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Minister of Federal Affairs and General Administration Lalbabu Pandit for failing to address the concerns of government employees in the Civil Service Employee Adjustment Ordinance. Thapa said the government should withdraw Civil Service Employee Adjustment Ordinance, which didn’t address employees’ concerns and blocked their career development. READ ALSO:

• Protests to be halted