Dhangadi, November 12

The indefinite sit-in that started in Kanchanpur yesterday to press the government for early arrest of person(s) behind the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta of Bhimdattanagar Municipality continued on the second day today.

Launched at the initiative of Civil Struggle Committee Kanchanpur, the protest in front of the district administration office also has the participation of the victim’s parents. According to Women rights activist Sharada Chand, they won’t give up until the culprit is identified and made public.

“Given how the perpetrator(s) are yet to be identified in these four long months, it feels as if the state itself is reluctant to bring them to book, hence the protest for justice,” Chand said, while Nirmala’s father also echoed Chand in his vow to continue the sit-in protest until the murderer(s) is made public.

“It’s an indefinite strike, to begin with; we will be obliged to take up a fast-unto-death should the state fail to produce the perpetrator(s) even after this strike,” he warned, reiterating their agitation was for justice.

Having left her home on July 26 for her friend’s home, Nirmala Panta, 13, was found dead in a sugarcane field the next day. The death had then sparked a string of protest in Dhangadi, which saw a month-long let-up during the Dashain and Tihar festivals.