• The court ordered extension of Mahara’s police custody after third arraignment

Kathmandu, October 24

Kathmandu District Court today extended former speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara’s police custody by additional seven days.

Mahara was arrested on October 6 after Parliament Secretariat employee, Roshani Shahi accused him of attempt to rape.

Judge Sudarshan Raj Pandey ordered the extension of Mahara’s police custody after conducting the third arraignment hearing today.

KDC had earlier sent Mahara to police custody for 13 days for the first time, which ended on October 19. Mahara was again sent to police custody for five days, which ended yesterday.

Mahara was taken to the Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu on October 15, but he did not record his statement as he chose his legal right to remain silent. But, he recorded his statement on October 20.

Police sources said Mahara had denied entering the house of Shahi on the night of September 29, but had only talked to her from outside her house.

Shahi, a nurse at the Parliament Secretariat, had lodged an FIR against Mahara on October 4. In her written complaint to the Metropolitan Police Circle at Baneshwor she had mentioned that Mahara attempted to rape her and also brutally beat her up in her rented room at Tinkune, on September 29.

On September 30,  Shahi had told an online news portal that Mahara had raped her.  She said that Mahara had visited her room with a bottle of whisky despite her objection, and had forced her to drink it, thrashed her multiple times before raping her.  She also said that Mahara had been sexually harassing her for years.

Mahara, following her statement had resigned from the post of speaker after the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) instructed him to resign as both speaker of the House of Representative and a member of the Parliament.

He was hospitalised a few days after he was arrested on charges of attempt to rape.

Mahara, who has been undergoing treatment at Thapathali based Norvic Hospital   for high blood pressure and respiratory ailments was brought to the district court for necessary proceedings and was later taken back to the same hospital after his third arraignment was completed.