Lalitpur, July 8:

The Legal Aid and Consultancy Centre (LACC) is conducting mock court trials in Kathmandu, Surkhet, Nepalgunj and Jhapa to train victims and witnesses of cases like polygamy, trafficking, rape, murder.

The mock trials are expected to make the victims and witnesses of different crimes familiar with court proceedings and possible inquiries during real trials.

One such victim, Lila Adhikary, 37, who has filed a case against her husband Krishna Adhikary who denied to confer citizenship to their two daughters after his second marriage, at a press meet, said, “This mock trial is giving us confidence to face the court, judges and get familiar with the legal terminologies.”

Her witness and their former landlord, Kamal Bahadur Paudel, 71, who is facing the court for the first time said, “The mock trial we faced at the Nepal Law Campus gave us hope and confidence that we can win the case and get justice and punish the victim.”

Another victim, Kabita Lama, 22, who participated in the mock trial said, she felt the need to remember factual details to win her case.

Sanjeev Kharel, a student at Manipal Campus, had denied her as a wife after three years of their marriage.

“Despite the evidence of our marriage, I need to mug up the factual details to express myself and convince the judges,” she added Prof Dr Shanta Thapaliya, chairperson of LACC said, “Victims and witnesses tend to get nervous at the court due to their inability to respond properly and present themselves effectively.” She said there were cases where victims have experienced injustice due to ignorance on their part.

The South Asian Regional Initiative (SARI)/Equity Support Programme is financially supporting the Legal Aid and Consultancy Centre to run the pilot project of mock trials in Kathmandu, Jhapa, Surkhet and Kanchanpur from February for ten months.