Biratnagar, January 16

The hearing on the case of Krishna Bahadur Giri, aka Siddhababa, scheduled for today at Biratnagar High Court was postponed until a later date.

The case was mentioned on the cause list assigned for the joint bench of acting chief judge Premraj Karki and judge Hari Prasad Bagale.

According to court registrar Jitendrababu Thapaliya, the hearing on the case has been rescheduled for next Thursday in response to the victim’s application.

Police had arrested Giri on December 2 and initiated a rape case against him acting on an FIR filed by one of his own supporters in the third week of October. Hearing on the case, Sunsari District Court Judge Radhakrishna Upreti had ordered to release him on a bail of 300,000 rupees on December 30. The same case reached the high court after the government prosecutor chose to file an application against the order of the district court on January 1, as per clause 73 of the criminal procedure code.

Interestingly, a few days later, the defendant too, filed an application at the high court seeking that the case be settled by allowing him to be out on normal date as per the law, on January 8.

Chief Judge Til Prasad Shrestha at the High Court earlier had ordered to mention the case on the same cause list for today. Shrestha, however, has been on leave since Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a silent sit-in was held in front of the court today demanding that the case proceed by keeping the accused perpetrator in custody. The participants at the sit-in carried placards in support of the victim.

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