KAVRE: Kavre District Court has slapped an octogenarian with an eight-and-a-half years jail term for raping his grandchild.

A single bench of District Judge Krishnaram Koirala handed down the sentence to the 86-year-old of Panauti municipality, Malpi, yesterday. The court also ruled that Nagarkoti pay Rs 250,000 in reparation to the victim.

The old man had raped his 13-year-old grandchild at his home in October last year. Following the incident, a charge-sheet had been filed with the court seeking stern action against the rapist on November 24.

The charge-sheet claimed that Nagarkoti had been sexually exploiting the minor over the past one month.

Earlier, though Nagarkoti was apprehended on the very next day the charge-sheet was filed against him, he had managed to bail himself out after one month in custody by posting the sought amount of three lakh rupees. Numerous rape cases of victims aged between two to 76 years have been reported in the district.

Two girls have been raped in the district after the earthquake. A 13-year-old mentally ill girl became the victim of an attempted rape in Panauti, Chaukot on April 30 when she was in a tent following the earthquake. Five days later, another 17-year-old girl of Sindhupalchowk, Chautara was gang-raped in Gorakhnath forest in Panauti.

The perpetrators of both the cases have been kept in custody.