Sarita Giri accuses minister Gupta of trying to abduct her

Kathmandu, May 11:

Women leaders still feel unsafe and insecure in politics, despite the positions they have secured, speakers at a programme said today, citing the case of alleged kidnapping of

Nepal Sadbhawana Party chairperson Anandidevi Singh.

Speaking at a programme organised by 11 organisations working for women, NSP-A leader Sarita Giri said men’s struggle for power in politics had jeopardised women’s safety.

“Despite repeated complaints to the police administration, Minister for Industry, Supplies and Commerce Shyam Sundar Gupta and his nephew are still roaming around freely in the capital,” claimed Giri.

She said if Gupta’s claim that Anandadevi was undergoing treatment in Patna, he should have informed in which hospital she had been admitted to.

Giri also accused Gupta, the NSP-A general secretary, and rival faction of the party of trying to abduct her while she was on way to Kathmandu from Biratnagar and Siraha on May 2.

“While we were returning from Siraha after central committee meeting with four party workers, I got a call from my own team asking me to be alert. I was supposed to come to Kathmandu via Biratnagar through land, but opted for flight without informing those accompanying me. The capital-bound vehicle was taken directly to the Shyam Sundar Gupta’s quarter after it reached the valley,” claimed Giri.

However, Gupta refuted all the allegations made against him by Giri and NSP-A vice-president Khusi Lal Mandal.

At the same programme, Sharada Pokharel, president of Women Security Pressure Group said due to the lack of proper nominations of women in several sectors, their problems still needed to be addressed.

To ensure 33 per cent seats for women in the constituent assembly, women should also be nominated to some of the 26 seats to be nominated by cabinet, she added.