BAITADI, MARCH 3
Baitadi District Court has extended the judicial custody of Dinesh Bhatta, an accused in the rape and subsequent murder of Bhagirathi Bhatta, by five more days. This is the fourth and final time the court has extended Bhatta's judicial custody.
The police had arrested Dinesh on February 16 in connection with the crime.
He has admitted to raping and murdering Bhagirathi.
The police have been investigating the crime to seek additional evidences to prove Dinesh's involvement said Deputy Superintendent of Police Narayan Prasad Adhikari.
"Investigations have reached the final stage. We will conclude the investigation in a day or two and submit the report to the district attorney," he said.
Blood samples of Dinesh have been sent to the laboratory in Kathmandu for DNA tests and vaginal swabs of the victim have already been sent, he said, adding that reports were yet to come. A post-mortem report of the victim showed that Bhagirathi was raped before murder.
Bhagirathi, 17, of Chadepani of Dogadakedar Rural Municipality in Baitadi district was raped and murdered while returning home from school.
Having gone missing on February 3 on her way to home from school, she was found dead the next day in a forest near her home.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 4, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
