KATHMANDU: On January 20, police arrested a man who sexually assaulted his 12-year-old step daughter for two years.

After his arrest, Sharat Gurung confessed before the police that he married Neelu Pariyar’s mother, just to get Neelu. Forty-two-year-old Gurung tried to convince Neelu to yield to his advances for almost a year before marrying her mother Rama Pariyar, who was a widow then.

“I thought if I’ll marry the mother, I’ll get the girl automatically. I tried everything to convince the girl, but failed. I realised I was wasting time and money. Then I decided to marry her widowed mother,” says Gurung.

The victim’s mother never got a hint what her husband was doing to her daughter for two years, as per her statement to the police. Gurung is a taxi driver. Rama works as a maid.

Gurung has been kept in Kalimati Police Station for further investigation and the girl is with her relatives.

According to the Metropolitan Commissioners’ Office, police are investigating into the case and are yet to press charges in the court. Inspector Dadhiram Neupane told this daily that Gurung waited for a long time to rape the girl. (Names changed to protect identities)