High-level probe reveals ‘too little, too late’
Kathmandu, October 8
The report on rape and murder of Nirmala Panta released by the government yesterday was expected to answer many pressing questions raised by civil society, but it appears to have added to the confusion, prompting rights activists and the parents of the 13-year-old victim to question whether the investigation was conducted to ‘mislead the public and protect those who destroyed evidences’.
At the outset, the report, prepared by a high-level probe committee formed under Joint Secretary Hari Prasad Mainali, states that facts and information collected from various angles were carefully studied, evaluated and analysed to come to a conclusion.
“Had this been the case the report should have been able to direct the authorities towards those who committed the crime,” said Sharada Chand, a rights activist from Kanchanpur, where Nirmala was raped and killed. “But the report tells nothing on that front — an indication that the investigation has gone back to square one.”
What worries rights activists like Chand is recommendation for ‘mere departmental action’ against police officers, including suspended Superintendent of Police Dilliraj Bista, the then police chief of Kanchanpur district, who directly or indirectly helped destroy the evidence from the crime scene. “Isn’t such a flimsy punishment an attempt to reward those who failed to dispense justice to Nirmala?” Chand asked.
Nirmala had disappeared on the afternoon of July 26 after visiting the house of her classmate, Aachal Bam, aka Roshani. Nirmala’s mother had called the police that evening after she went missing, but no action was taken, according to the report. Her body was found at around 9:00am the next day in a sugarcane field. Circumstantial evidences show that Nirmala’s body may have been dumped in the field after she was raped and killed somewhere else. The lower half of her body was submerged in water, which, according to the report, may have destroyed crucial evidence. But the police that arrived at the crime scene did very little to protect whatever evidence was left, as they dipped her trousers in water before using them to cover her body.
Since there was very little evidence left at the crime scene, Nirmala’s parents have long been saying Roshani and her elder sister, Anita Bam, aka Babita, must be interrogated properly to track down the criminals because Nirmala was at their residence before she went missing. But police took a long time to take the two sisters into custody.
“I don’t know why the police tried to protect the Bam sisters, but probably it was because their father and SP Bista were classmates,” Nirmala’s mother, Durga Devi, claimed. “I have been told by neighbours of Bam family that SP Bista used to frequent Bam’s residence. I am quite sure that police will be able to track down criminals if the Bam sisters and SP Bista are interrogated properly.”
The father of Bam sisters, Dipendra Bahadur, however, refuted the claim that SP Bista was his classmate. “I don’t know him and he has never visited my house,” he claimed.
The truth about whether Dipendra Bahadur and SP Bista were friends is not known, but the report has not tried to clarify this either. However, at this point many will believe Durga Devi’s version more than Dipendra Bahadur’s. “How can we trust Dipendra Bahadur when he tried to mislead investigation by trying to convince the promoter of a private tuition centre to lie about the presence of his elder daughter at the tuition centre on the day Nirmala went missing?” questioned Mina Bhandari, another rights activist from Kanchanpur, who has been following the rape and murder case from the beginning.
Dipendra’s elder daughter, Babita, had claimed that she had attended the private tuition class with Bidhya Panta on the day Nirmala went missing. But Bidhya does not remember seeing Babita in the tuition centre that day. The promoter of the tuition centre, Baburam Rawat, also does not remember seeing Babita that day.
“This lie should prompt police to investigate Dipendra Bahadur as well. But we suspect the police will take that measure, as they appear to be protecting criminals,” said Bhandari.
READ ALSO:
