Dhangadi, February 20

Local women staged a demonstration, demanding justice for Urmila Bista, in Dhangadi of Kailali, today.

Urmila was found dead at Attariya of Godawari Municipality, Kailali, on February 1.

Women staged the protest as police have yet to arrest those involved in Urmila’s murder though 20 days have passed since the incident. Urmila’s sister Hira accused police of protecting the culprits as they have yet to make the postmortem report public. “It is a conspiracy to shield the culprits involved in the case,” she added. She said police were pressuring them not to protest instead of investigating the incident.

Urmila’s relatives said she was tortured time and again after she tied the knot with Ramesh Karki in 2012. Hira alleged Ramesh started torturing Urmila both physically and mentally after a few days of their marriage.

Urmila had gone to collect fodder on January 30. Locals searched for her after she did not return home till late evening that day. She was found dead near a house, on the banks of a local river with injuries on her chest one day after she went missing.