The govt must immediately table a bill in the House to remove the statute of limitations on rape
Hundreds of girls, women, rights activists and lawyers gathered at the Prime Minister's residence at Baluwatar on Friday and Maitighar Mandala on Saturday, demanding stern legal action against a perpetrator who allegedly raped a 16-year-old aspiring model minor in abduction-style at a hotel and also filmed a video of the victim in the act some eight years ago. The Kathmandu police have arrested the perpetrator, Manoj Pandey, proprietor of Global Visas Consultancy, who also used to run beauty pageants, on charges of committing violence against the aspiring model minor. The harrowing incident of repeated rape of the minor came to light after the victim posted videos on her social media account, detailing that Pandey added sedative drugs in a soft drink and raped her in Hotel Everest. Then after he continued raping her for six months whenever he wanted, threatening to leak the video that he had taken if she refused. She was only 16 years old when this incident took place. In her social media account, she also said Pandey forced her to have sex with other men in front of him. It shows that it was not only a case of rape, but multiple crimes committed at a time.
Following the outrage from different walks of life, including a ruling from Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota, the Nepal Police Headquarters commissioned a five-member probe tam, led by SSP Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, to investigate the case and 'seek ways to keep the perpetrator behind bars if proven guilty'.
The police had closely monitored Pandey's activities soon after the case became a subject of national issue. This issue was also raised in the parliament, where many lawmakers called for amending the existing law that has a one-year statute of limitations to file a case on rape. SSP Kunwar has said they might invoke the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act-2007 or any other similar acts, which do not have a statute of limitations.
The main problem here is that the perpetrator cannot be charged under a rape case as the statute of limitations for filing the rape case at the court of law is just one year whereas this incident had occurred eight years ago. It may also be recalled that the Supreme Court had earlier rejected to take up rape cases of two minor girls, saying the one-year statute of limitations had already been crossed. In this case, the Human Trafficking and Transportation Act can be applied since there is no statute of limitations for sexual and physical exploitation. As many cases of sexual violence meted out to girls and women several years ago have started coming out lately, legal and rights activists have raised voices against the statute of limitations on rape cases. Here comes the role of the federal parliament, which needs to amend the existing law so that the rape victim(s) can file cases with the police after recovering from mental and psychological trauma that they suffer from the heinous crime. So, the government must immediately table an amendment bill in the House to remove the one-year statute of limitations on rape cases. The rape case should be settled through a 'fast-track court' so that the victim(s) can get prompt justice and compensation from the perpetrator(s). Nepal has the shortest statute of limitations on rape in South Asia.
Plastic bag ban
The government has issued an action plan to put a complete ban on the production and use of thin plastic bags. While this is a very welcome move, there is enough room to be sceptical about its implementation.
We've seen many a government in the past introduce similar acts only to be dumped over time under pressure from the industry people and business community. Plastic bags make up a sizeable chunk of the waste generated in the household. While the thicker plastic bags tend to be recycled, it's those of less than 40 microns that land up as waste to become an environmental problem.
Despite the many campaigns that have been launched by the government and the civil society against the use of plastic bags, that they continue to be used means they are convenient and cheap. But if we really are serious about doing away with plastic bags, then there must be the political will to do so.
This requires strict monitoring to see that shops are not using plastic bags, and if they are, they must be fined heavily. Many departmental stores already don't dole out plastic bags for customers to carry goods, and expect them to come with their own bags while shopping. No shopper is complaining.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 23, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.