Kathmandu, October 5

Student leaders have demanded that Nepal Police identify and bring to book the culprits involved in the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta without further delay.

Ranjeet Tamang, chairperson of the ruling party-aligned All National Independent Student Union (Revolutionary), said they would criticise or applaud Nepal Police’s role on the basis of its failure or success in controlling crimes and initiating action against the perpetrators.

“We take right for right and wrong for wrong without bias. Many people are frustrated with police for their inaction and failure to arrest the culprits,” he said at an interaction organised here today.

On the demand of ruling party-aligned student union that Inspector General of Police Sarbendra Khanal resign, he said, “We are just saying that IGP should own moral responsibility for his organisation’s negligence in investigating the rape and murder case. Who will be responsible if people lose their hope for justice to the victims and their family in such cases?”

He also claimed that students did not intend to lower the morale of the security agency. “We are ready to felicitate the IGP if he succeeds in tracing the culprits. But the demand for justice should not be taken as weakness,” he said. Tamang claimed the top cop did not cooperate with the government in solving the Nirmala murder and rape case.

Mahesh Bartaula, acting chairperson of All Nepal National Free Student Union, said crime rates were on the rise due to inaction of IGP Khanal. Nainsingh Mahar, president of Nepali Congress-aligned Nepal Students’ Union, said that it would be injustice to blame the IGP. “It is the failure of the government, not of the IGP, and hence Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli should resign. This government is the root of many criminal offences,” he said.