KATHMANDU, JUNE 19

Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens has urged the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration to ensure safety of quarantined women in the midst of coronavirus fears.

MoWCSC wrote to MoHA and MoFAGA, requesting them to ensure safety of hundreds of women quarantined across the country after a woman was allegedly gang-raped in a quarantine facility in Lamkichuha Municipality-1 of Kailali district last week.

Police have arrested three persons, including a health worker and two volunteers, on the charge of gang rape.

They forced their way into the quarantine centre and committed the crime.

“Women are living in fear of sexual violence in quarantine centres. Therefore, MoHA and MoFAGA have been requested to arrange separate quarantine facilities for men and women, mandatorily,” the MoWCSC said. It has also urged MoHA and MoFAGA to provide specialised services for pregnant women and lactating mothers, make provision of women health volunteers and female cops in women-only quarantine facility, deliver justice to the rape victim of Kailali district and take stern action against the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

Opposition parties, rights bodies and general public have also expressed grave concern regarding the security of women in quarantine facilities.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 20, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.