Apropos of the news story “THT’s great friend Dubby Bhagat no more” (THT, July 21, Page 1), I like to pay my respects to the man, who, according to me, put Nepal in the consciousness of discerning travelers through his classy writings in highly popular JS Magazine and Indian dailies at a time when Nepal had only big-size English daily, The Rising Nepal, and other tabloid-size newspapers such as Motherland and Commoner.

He was a journalist par excellence and, unlike local journalists whose sole staple was politics, he contributed a lot for the development of ‘upscale tourism’, first through his inimitable writings and later by working in hotels and travel agencies.

He was the one who turned three-hour and a half-day tour of our opulent cultural cities into full-day walking extravaganzas, highly coveted by affluent, high-spending tourists. He was also a fine guide who could mesmerize his tourists for hours.

He was innovative and original both in his writings and his creation of entertainment outlets of which Kathmandu had a few then.

He could also be credited with women empowerment as one of these outlets at Everest Hotel had all-women service staff at a time when our would-be political heavyweights had no inkling of women empowerment and gender equity in politics.

In his passing, Nepal tourism has indeed lost a niche, cosmopolitan, elegant and glamorous torchbearer.

Tourism fraternity has lost a person who made Nepal as a major tourist destination in the world through his prolific writings in renowned travel magazines.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Punish the rapists

This has reference to the news story “Mentally challenged girl raped” (THT, July 21, Page 7). This news made me very sad.

Such crime is committed by those persons who are mentally corrupt and do not show any mercy to others who cannot defend themselves or cannot even lodge complaints against the perpetrators.

However, our mindsets define our level of consciousness.

Even if a person knows that sexual assault is a heinous crime and is punished by law to the maximum extent possible he does not use the very conscience whenever he gets any chance to take advantage of the situation.

It is the instinct that makes a man act like an animal.

As per the news story, a 19-year-old mentally retarded girl of Dhangadi was raped by a person called Bisham Chaudhary of Dhangadi VDC-8, Baldev Sardar of Kanchanpur-7 and some others.

A complaint had been lodged at the local police office identifying their names and addresses. But the police have not been able to arrest them as they are absconding since the crime. The law enforcement body cannot fully control any crime.

But it is their duty and responsibility to book the culprits and take legal action against them.

If found guilty, they should not only be punished as per the law but they should also be made to pay compensation to the victim whose life has been ruined by their lustful act.

Saroj Wagle, Bara