Protect the vulnerable

The top priorities of the newly formed government are to ensure public safety and maintain the rule of law. But sexual harassment against women has been on the rise in recent days. The incidents of rape are increasing both in the urban and rural areas. It was disgusting to read the news of a soldier allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl in Dharan (THT, May 9).

A majority of rape cases do not get reported as women fear social humiliation or have no confidence in the police or criminal courts. A radical change must be brought about in the law for crimes against women. We blindly follow laws that punish such criminals with imprisonment and fines.

But neither is enough to prevent men from committing the crime again. We should reintroduce our age-old method of exposing rapists to public disgrace before punishing them.

It is now the responsibility of the government to promote good governance, encourage ethics and values, establish the rule of law, and protect the vulnerable sections.

T G Ramaswamy, Hetauda

Thapa’s right

I agree with Ganga Thapa’s views expressed in his article “New Nepal: Real possibility of a republican order” published in THT on May 8. There is no doubt that the Nepalis have shown to the world that they are not only helpless observers but are capable of leading their nation themselves. The recent Jana Andolan has proved the high level of political consciousness of the Nepali people. Therefore, as demanded by the protestors, they are going to settle for

nothing less than a republican order.

Punya Khatiwada, Kathmandu

Clarification

We would like to draw your attention towards the news “Free NT CDMA sets to vigilantes” published in your esteemed newspaper on May 6.

We would like to clarify that Nepal Telecom (NT) does not have any policy to give free CDMA lines or for that matter any telephone service to any individual or institute or government authority free of cost.

Hence, normal CDMA lines at prevalent rates and rentals were distributed at the request of the concerned ministries or departments as usual, and obviously NT is not responsible in any way for the extent of use or identification of the users of any of those lines.

Regarding the issue of “reporting names” of “employees who were extending solidarity to the mass uprising”, no such list was ever prepared or sent by NT, formally or informally to any authorities whatsoever. We, therefore, request you to verify details before printing such news.

Sugat Ratna Kansakar, Managing Director, NT

Disgusting

The media should demand the ouster of those MPs who indulged in corruption when the parties were in power. It was disgusting to see on TV the faces of MPs currently being prosecuted for corruption sitting calmly in the parliament. The martyrs did not sacrifice their lives to bring such people back to power.

I would like to request that all the parliamentary sessions be shown live on TV so that the people can see how ‘hard’ the MPs are working for the country’s welfare.

Bhai Kaji, Kathmandu