The parliament must amend the law to extend the one-year statutory limitation in a rape case
The Kathmandu District Court (KDC) on Monday remanded Manoj Pandey, a beauty pageant organiser, in police custody for five days, as sought by the law enforcement agency, for allegedly drugging and raping a 16-year-old girl some eight years ago in a hotel room in the capital. The KDC had earlier allowed the police to arrest the accused after the rape victim, who has already identified herself as Sushmita Regmi, now 24, filed an FIR with the police recently, accusing Pandey of drugging and raping her, filming the act and also forcing her to have sex with other men in front of him for six months in 2014, when she took part in a beauty pageant organised by Pandey.
Pandey was arrested on May 21 after the rape victim posted a series of videos on social networking media recalling her ordeals, which went viral in the social media, prompting right activists to take to the streets in front of the Prime Minister's residence at Baluwatar and Maitaghar Mandala on Friday and Saturday.
The police, who were closely monitoring the movement of the accused since the rape case became public, had arrested the culprit as per the ruling from the House Speaker and voices from lawmakers from both the aisles.
Since the Criminal Code Act-2017 requires that an adult rape victim must file a complaint against the rapist within one year of the incident and, in the case of a minor, the victim or the victim's family can file a complaint within the first year of turning adulthood, Sushmita had to file a case against Pandey under the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act-2007, which does not have any statutory limitation.
Drugging and luring a woman to a place like a hotel room can attract human trafficking law, under which an accused could be sent to judicial custody for up to two months to investigate and find evidence. Meanwhile, two more minor girls have also contacted the police, accusing Pandey of 'sexual harassment' when they also aspired to become models.
Following public outrage over the alleged rape, Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Govinda Bandi, who himself is a senior lawyer, has asked the Nepal Law Commission to submit a report about what the government could do about extending the statute of limitation on rape cases. As the existing law requires that a rape case must be filed within one year of the crime, Sushmita might not get justice due to the short statutory limitation. How long it will take for the Law Commission to submit its report and the ministry to draft a bill to amend the existing law is anybody's guess. Another question is whether the bill to amend the Criminal Code Act- 2017, which deals with rape cases, shall have a retrospective effect on the rape case or will come into force only after its amendment by the federal parliament.
This is a tough issue the lawmakers from both the aisles must discuss with a cool mind. It may be recalled that the parliament had earlier drafted a law with retrospective effect to deal with serious human rights violations committed by both the State and the then rebel Maoists during the decade-long insurgency.
Whatever the case, the federal parliament must realise that the statutory limitation on filing an FIR within one year in a rape case must be changed to address the plight of a rape victim(s).
Fuel switching
The war in Ukraine is expected to continue for a long time, which means oil prices will not climb down anytime soon. With oil prices today double of what they were in February this year, it is putting a heavy strain on our dwindling foreign currency reserves.
Nepal spent Rs 220 billion on fuel imports in the first nine months of this fiscal year, while total fuel imports last fiscal year were worth just Rs 175 billion.
Hence, it is only rational that we curtail fossil fuel consumption by promoting alternative fuel sources, namely electricity.
Against this scenario, Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal has said that a policy to increase electricity consumption in the domestic market would soon be announced to substitute petroleum product imports. Accordingly, e-vehicles and e-stoves are to be encouraged. With petrol now costing Rs 180 a litre and LPG gas Rs 1800 a cylinder, a right policy could prompt people to switch to electricity now that Nepal generates surplus energy even for some export. It is, however, important that the government introduce a policy that sticks over a long period of time and is not disbanded once oil prices drop.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.