Rautahat, May 11:

A defamation suit was filed against a rights activist, two journalists, Kantipur Publications and The Kathmandu Post and its editor in the district court here today.

The case was filed against an interview of human rights activist Dr Mathura Shrestha, that appeared in The Kathmandu Post’s March 26 edition.

The interview was taken by journalists Puran Prasad Bist and Ghanashyam Ojha in connection with the death of 29 persons in a clash between cadres of the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum (MJF) and the Madhesi Rastriya Mutki Morcha in Gaur on March 21.

In the suit, assistant principal of Maharshi Balmiki Higher Secondary School, Naresh Keshari, a resident of Gaur- 8, said: “In Shrestha’s interview on the opinion page of The Kathmandu Post, Shrestha said he met a girl of the Madhesi community at Hatiya bazaar. Shrestha, saying that he did not know the name of the girl, quoted the girl as saying: ‘I could not

marry as per my wish; the mafias involved in the killings force us, girls, to marry as per their wish. If a girl disagrees, they rape her in the nearby mango tree and leave her there to be a prostitute.’”

“Shrestha further says that such incidents are normal in Gaur,” Keshari said in the suit.

Shrestha not only insulted the people of Gaur, but all the people of the Madhesi community in his interview, the writ petition says, adding that all the daughters of Madhesi community have been defamed and an attempt was made to obstruct the marriages of the daughters of the community.

Dr Shrestha, journalists Puran Prasad Bist and Ghanashyam Ojha, Kantipur Publications Private Limited and The Kathmandu Post and its editor have been made the defendants in the case.

Keshari has demanded severe punishment to the defendants and compensation as per Articles 3, 5, 6 and 8 of the Defamation Act-2016.