KATHMANDU: A committee of the Legislative Parliament for Women and Children on Wednesday alleged that the Nepal Army should be held responsible for the incident in Baspani, Bardiya, where a girl, Chandra Kala B.K 12 and two women Devisara B.K., 35, Amrita B.K., 33 of Hariharpur, Surkhet were shot dead on March 28.

The committee organising a press meet described the incident as mysterious and appealed to the government to penalise the culprits.

The proposal was made following a field visit to the spot by a team led by Dr. Harihar Basti that came to the conclusion that the Nepal Army manipulated the Nepal Police to act in their favour and destroyed all the incriminating evidence.

Earlier Nepal Army had publicly stated that they had fired at the poachers in retaliation to their attack.

The National Human Rights Commission had earlier recommended that the government punish the culprits for killing innocent civilians.

Initially allegations were raised that the victims may have been subject to rape before being killed. They were killed when they were collecting Kaulo, the bark of a tree to supplement their livelihood.