Kathmandu, July 24

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal has arrested two French nationals on the charge of sexually abusing minors for months.

The suspects of paedophilia — Christophe Guilloux, 42, of La Mure and Denis Mathieu Michel Chupau, 38, of Nantes, France — were intercepted and arrested from Gaushala yesterday while they were allegedly on their way to Tribhuavn International Airport to board a flight for home to escape prosecution in Nepal.

DIG Narayan Singh Khadka, CIB director, said plainclothes cops had been keeping a vigil on their activities for over three weeks acting on information that they were molesting boys between the ages of 10 and 14 years.

“They managed to flee from their rented rooms before we collected substantial evidences against the French nationals and went there for final operation,” he informed.

Guilloux had first arrived in Kathmandu on September 9, 2017. He last came here on November 30, 2017 and had been living in a rented room in a Kageshowori Municipality area since. Similarly, Chupau came to Kathmandu on October 25, 2017 for the first time and last arrived here on April 12, 2017.

Though the duo spent most of the time together, they lived in separate rented rooms. They had been staying in Nepal on tourist visa. Parents of eight victims have filed a complaint at CIB against the duo.

DIG Khadka said the French nationals lured boys from poor and disadvantaged groups with money and delicacies. “They also bought the victims football, chocolate and clothes, and took them to swimming pools for recreation,” he said. The suspects engaged the minors to have unnatural sexual relationship with them.

Sexual exploitation of minors by some foreigners, especially men, has become a growing problem in Kathmandu valley. Nine foreigners have been arrested in connection with paedophilia over a period of two years. Of them, eight were held from the valley. Minors are soft targets since they cannot resist the perpetrators, said DIG Khadka.

According to Number 9(A) of Chapter 14 of Muluki Ain, a person who commits sodomy (any kind of unnatural sexual intercourse) with a minor is considered to have committed an offence of rape and the offender is liable to up to 11 years of imprisonment. The court may also make an order to provide appropriate compensation to such a minor from the offender upon considering the age and trauma suffered by the minor.

CIB said Chupau was arrested and punished for sexual assault on minors and possessing images of child abuse in his home country in 2004. Meanwhile, Kathmandu District Court has remanded them to seven-day judicial custody for further investigation.