349 cases of women abuse have been reported in the last two years
Dhangadhi: It has been exactly two years since Nirmala Pant, a 13-year-old girl from Kanchanpur was murdered after being raped.
The investigation into Nirmala's murder case, which had attracted the attention of the international community after a nationwide agitation for judicial action has seriously diminished in the past two years, moreover in the past two years, the number of rape cases recorded in the Far West has risen sharply. The State Police Office of Dipayal reported that 152 cases of rape against women ranging from young girls to the elderly have been registered in Sudurpashchim Pradesh in the fiscal year of 2075/76 BS and 195 cases have been registered in the fiscal year 2076/77 BS. n Kanchanpur alone, cases of harassment has increased from 30 to 40 last year. Spokesperson of the District Police Office in Kanchanpur, Deputy Superintendent of Police Amar Bahadur Thapa Chettri said that most of the rapes were committed on girls under the age of 16.
Adolescents girls in the age group of 16 years are the most affected demographic, He stated that out of 40 victims who came for justice last year, 20 were under the age of 16, 19 were in the age group of 15 to 25 and one was in the age group of 26 to 36. In Kailali, which has the highest number of rape cases in the Far West, there were 82 filed cases in the fiscal year 2075/76 BS. That number has increased to 92 in last year.
After Kailali and Kanchanpur, Bajura has the highest number of 17 recorded cases in two fiscal years, followed by Achham with 16 cases in two years, Baitadi and Dadeldhura with 15, Darchula and Doti with 14 cases and Bajang with 12 cases, according to the State Police Office. Women's rights activists are of the view that due to the lack of change in the severity of the action taken against perpetrators and the attitude towards women in the state have emboldened potential aggressors and sexual predators with growing impunity which is further declining the credibility of the police.
Meena Bhandari, a human rights activist who has been active in the judicial movement for the past two years, says that the Far West has not been able to reduce sexual violence due to impunity being the main reason for the rise in these heinous crimes such as violence and rape, however the police claim that they have been working hard to reduce the heinous nature of sexual violence by learning from the mistakes of the past.
Taking the Nirmala murder case as a lesson, the police said that the police are working in a planned manner to discourage criminal activities including rape. Spokesperson of Kanchanpur, Deputy Superintendent of Police Amar Thapa Chettri said that they have been working seriously on any incident related to women abuse stating that the police are alert and vigilant to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, he said that they have been conducting public awareness program through community police partnership program.
The increase in the number of cases of violence against women has been analysed as an increase in the public awareness of such cases leading to a higher number of cases being reported.
