Kathmandu: Nepal Police commissions panel to probe the rape case involving beauty pageant organiser. Nepal Police has commissioned a high-level team to investigate an eight-year-old rape case that came to the surface recently via social media.
The national police organisation says it formed a five-member team led by SSP Basanta Bahadur Kunwar. Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs had directed Nepal Police to look into the case.
Earlier on Friday afternoon, the House of Representatives had also directed the government to investigate the case that involved a beauty pageant organiser.
Activists and members of the public have also launched a movement to press the government for a fair investigation and action against the culprit.
The incident came to light after a woman aged 24 years uploaded a 20-part video series on social media in which she alleged that the organiser of the beauty pageant that she had participated in when she was 16 year-old had drugged and raped her and also blackmailed her.
The survivor, in the video has also accused the organiser of drugging, raping and blackmailing her. “He called me to attend the success party, but there was no one there. He asked me to wait,” the rape survivor says in the video which has took social media by storm.
She further explained on record that a waiter came up to her and gave her lemonade as a welcome drink. After drinking it, she felt dizzy and asked the organizer if she could go home, but he told her she had to stay because she was a winner.
In her account, the survivor claims to have looked out for help but was ignored. The victim claimed that she went through a lot. Her mental health took a battering as she battled depression. She looked for an escape, but all she found were men who either demeaned her or took advantage of her.
She told a few people about this, who asked her to go to the police, but Nepal’s law meant she could not. The statute of limitations for rape in Nepal is one year, which means you can only file a complaint within one year.
Her mental health further deteriorated. She could not find a proper therapist. The incident broke her entire well-being to the point a few months ago, she attempted to kill herself to end the suffering she was going through. But, she survived and following that she decided to speak out so others would not be victimised as she did.
After the video circulated on social media, the Nepal Police started an investigation into the case.