Undoubtedly, Nepal's laws have been very unfair to victims of rape and other heinous sexual violence
Pressure is building up on the Nepali government to remove the restrictive statute of limitations on cases of rape and other sexual violence. On Monday, Nepali Congress lawmakers tabled a resolution motion in the House of Representatives demanding amendment to the Criminal Code Act-2017 so that legal action could be taken against the perpetrators and justice ensured for the victims regardless of when the heinous crime was committed. Under Nepal's 2017 penal code, complaints of rape must be filed within one year from the date when the crime was committed except in cases where the victim is related by blood to the perpetrator. The four NC lawmakers have, in their resolution motion, also proposed that the government take responsibility for the safety of the victims and provide necessary compensation as well as free treatment and counselling. Earlier, another resolution motion had been registered in the National Assembly by a NC woman lawmaker demanding removal of the statutory limit on rape cases.
The statute of limitations on sexual violence, in particular rape, has become a big issue in the recent weeks after a model stepped forward on social media to make public allegations of repeated rape by an organiser of a beauty pageant that she had participated in, eight years after the crime took place. Rape apart, that the victim had been raped when she was underage has made the case all the more appalling. But action could not be taken against the alleged culprit, protected as he was by the statutory limit. But continued streets protests coupled with much hue and cry in the media forced the police to arrest the alleged culprit, Manoj Pandey, on May 21 under the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act, 2007. Activists have now been demanding that the laws be amended to extend the statutory limit on rape cases or scrap it altogether.
Undoubtedly, Nepal's laws have been very unfair to victims of rape and other heinous sexual violence, in a society where they are less likely to come forward to file a complaint against the perpetrators, knowing fully well that the odds are stacked against them. The victims fared even worse before the penal code of 2017 was enforced, when just 35 days were given to the rape victims to file a complaint. And most victims never came forward to lodge a complaint as the women had to undergo a humiliating trial in the courts, giving a full account of the ordeal, where lawyers kept questioning about their character. Many rape cases, especially in the Tarai, were also settled by the powerful local leaders through reconciliation between the two parties outside the court of law. Given the stigma girls or women face when reporting cases of sexual and gender-based violence, one can assume that most rape cases go unreported in Nepal. But things might be changing. Apart from activism by women and local groups, there is also pressure from international bodies like the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and UN member states to remove the statute of limitations on cases of rape and other sexual violence. Moreover, the Prime Minister has given word to amend the laws to remove the statutory limit on rape cases.
Priority on agriculture
A day after the federal government presented its fiscal budget at the joint session of the parliament on May 29, Bagmati Province government also tabled its policies and programmes for fiscal 2022/23, giving top priority to agriculture and animal husbandry. The policies and programmes of the province aim at modernising and commercialising the agriculture sector, making the province self-reliant in eggs, fish, meat, potato, onion, garlic and ginger.
It is quite interesting that everybody has emphasised agricultural growth with adequate incentives to the farmers. But the main question remains: are the farmers, especially the youths, ready to take up farming as envisaged by the three tiers of the government? Do we have enough land for farming and technology to modernise and commercialise it within a short period of time? What we have experienced is that nobody will engage in farming as long as they do not see any prospects of earning more than what the youths generally make in foreign countries as migrant workers. Providing incentives is also not enough. The youths also expect training and technical and financial support for many years with guarantee of minimum support price for their produce.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 01, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
