Kathmandu, February 10:

The Supreme Court today ordered the Ministry of Culture, Truism and Civil Aviation to submit a report in three months on the condition of minor girls living as retired Kumaris.

A division bench of Justices Min Bahadur Rayamajhi and Rajendra Kumar Bhandari said the report should be based on facts of facilities retired Kumaris are getting.

The order came in response to to a public interest litigation writ filed on May 6 last year by advocate Pundevi Maharjan who sought the court to protect the rights of the Kumaris.

The advocate claimed the authorities were violating fundamental rights of the Kumaris and that they were not providing adequate facilities to them. The Cabinet Secretariat, Ministries of Women, Children and Social Welfare, Education, and Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and National Women Commission are the respondents.

The petitioner claimed that anointing minor girls as Kumaris was a sheer violation of the rights of these girls. The petitioner claimed the Kumaris were not getting sufficient food, proper education, health service, family environment or rehabilitation.