Speaker Sapkota rules govt to bring guilty to book in rape case

The ruling from the Speaker came after lawmaker Gagan Thapa requested the Speaker to direct the government to reconsider the statute of limitations for rape and sexual violence cases.

NL Today

  • Read Time 2 min.

Kathmandu: Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota has ruled the government to bring the guilty to book in a recently-public alleged rape case. Speaking at a meeting of the House of Representatives on Friday, Speaker Sapkota said his serious attention has been drawn to the incident.

“I direct the government to bring the guilty to book after carrying an immediate investigation into the incident,” ruled Speaker Sapkota after lawmaker and Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa drew the attention of the Parliament on the issue.

[Related:‘I was just crying and feeling helpless’: Alleged rape victim reveals horrifying series of incidents ]

Speaking at today’s Parliament meeting, lawmaker Thapa had requested the Speaker to rule the government to reconsider the statute of limitations for rape and sexual violence cases. Thapa had demanded the government bring the accused to book in an alleged rape case.

“I request Speaker to direct the government to reconsider statute of limitations for rape and sexual violence cases,” said Thapa.

[Related: Youths protest demanding justice for rape victims]

A case of alleged sexual abuse of an aspring model has triggered rage against rape in Nepal. On Wednesday evening, several videos from a young woman appeared on TikTok where she shared her story of how she was assaulted and abused by an unnamed person who was the organizer of a beauty pageant in which she had participated around 2014.

The videos, which have gone viral on social media, have exposed how the victims of sexual abuse are forced to stay silent for years fearing reprisal and lack of faith in the justice system.