Rape victim kills self

RAJBIRAJ, SEPTEMBER 16

A woman in Saptari has alleged that her daughter, who was a rape victim, killed herself, as the village council pressured her not to complain to police.

Rabiyadevi Mandal, the mother of Sangita Mandal, 17, of Ward No 17 of Saptari’s Dakneshwori Municipality, today lodged a first information report with the Area Police Office, Kalyanpur, accusing four youths of raping her daughter.

She has alleged that Dharam Mandal, Bablu Mandal, Ranjit Mandal and Bishnu Mandal took turns to rape her daughter while she had gone to the field on Monday morning.

“When we sought justice from the village council, we were pressured to settle the case at the village level by accepting compensation from the accused. We were warned against lodging a police complaint.

They rubbed salt into her wounds, forcing her to hang herself on Tuesday,” alleged Rabiyadevi.

All the four alleged rapists have fled Kalyanpur following Sangita’s suicide.

A police team from Saptari District Police Office reached the village and brought the girl’s body to Rajbiraj on Tuesday evening. The body has been sent for post-mortem to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan. Following the post-mortem, the body was handed over to her kin, today itself, police said.

According to Inspector Santosh Khadka, a police team found shards of broken bangles from the site.

Satya Narayan Mandal, Basudev Mandal and Jayakanta Mandal, who were involved in the village gathering organised to effect a compromise, have been detained.

“We have begun investigation and are searching for the accused. The post-mortem report will give us a clearer picture about the incident,” said District Police Office information officer, DSP Tilak Bharati.

Having lost her husband four years ago, Rabiyadevi was providing for her family by working as a tenant farmer.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on September 17, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.

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