Kathmandu, June 11

Police have arrested an undersecretary of the government for allegedly attempting to rape his teenage daughter.

According to the FIR filed against the under-secretary at Jawalakhel-based Metropolitan Police Office, the accused had been attempting to rape his 18-year-old daughter for the past few years. The 45-year-old father is a gazetted second class officer at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. His identity has been withheld to protect the privacy of the victim.

A police official said the father used to reach out to the daughter with ill intention whenever her mother was away from home. The mother was aware of his behaviour.

But she and her daughter tried to keep the case under wraps fearing it would tarnish the family’s reputation.

The mother and the victim had decided to file the complaint after he continued to ‘molest his daughter’ despite repeated warnings.

According to a police official, the under-secretary tried to rape his daughter giving examples of foreign countries where incestuous relationship was acceptable. Deputy Superintendent of Police Narayan Chimoriya said the FIR was filed after the father had made another rape attempt on June 2. “He used to grope the girl touching her private parts,”

DSP Chimoriya added. Lalitpur District Court has remanded him to a five-day judicial custody for further investigation.

Statistics provided by Nepal Police show that 1,480 cases of rape and 727 rape attempts were recorded throughout the country in the fiscal year 2017-18. Nearly 70 per cent victims of rape and rape attempts, are minors between the ages of five and 16 years. Most of the reported incidents of rape and rape attempts were perpetrated by members of the family and close relatives and acquaintances.