Kathmandu, January 9

Nepali Congress lawmaker Dila Sangraula Panta today registered a stricture at the Parliament Secretariat criticising the government for its failure to arrest those responsible for the rape and murder of 13-year old Nirmala Panta.

The NC lawmaker stated that the government’s failure to arrest the culprit(s) even after five months was indicative of the government’s failure to make its presence felt.   The government has formed one after another commissions to probe into the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta and yet it does not muster the courage to make the reports of those commissions public,” the NC lawmaker stated in her motion.

The lawmaker stated that the police’s attempt to arrest drug addicts, mentally ill and innocent people and entice them to confess to the crime made the incident more mysterious. “It is utterly regrettable that the government, despite pressure from all stakeholders, has failed to make public the facts of the case. Such incidents have defamed the government nationally and internationally,” the lawmaker stated in the stricture.

The lawmaker also stated that deterioration of the health of Nirmala’s father was an indication that the victim’s family, which should have got justice, had been victims of injustice. The NC lawmaker demanded that the stricture be put to the House for debate as soon as possible.

Section Officer of Parliament Secretariat Rajan Ghimire said that a sub-panel of Business Advisory Committee would set the priority of the stricture before it is presented in the House. Ghimire said the stricture could move ahead only if the line minister expressed his desire to take up the issue and prepare his/her response to it. “Stricture is different from other motions. Stricture should be implemented by the government as its policy and therefore, line minister’s role is crucial,” Ghimire said.