BUTWAL, July 8: The mother of a 16 years old girl who was torched alive while asleep has accused the police of not making efforts to nab and punish the culprits involved in her daughter's murder.
On June 24, Samikshya Thakuri, 16 of Kanchanpur Rural Municipality-5, Piparichampa was doused with kerosene and burned alive in her bedroom. On July 4, the victim succumbed to the injuries while undergoing treatment in Kathmandu. Maya Thapa Thakuri, the mother of the deceased, filed a complaint at the Area Police Office (APO), Saljhundi on Friday, accusing the husband of the deceased, Tej Bahadur Thakuri, mother-in-law Harikala Thakuri and sisters-in law Madhu and Amrita of the murder.
Maya's brother Bom Darlami stated that police have been neglecting their case from the very beginning despite being given a list of the suspects. He said that they reached APO, Rudrapur and Butwal two days after the incident but the police refused to file the complaint. "At first we prioritized her treatment more than anything but I had sent my son to the police for filing a complaint," said Bom, adding, "My sister was told that her complaint has been filed at Butwal APO but when I went later, they told that the complaint was actually not registered."
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Even after agreeing to register the complaint on Friday, police are yet to take the suspects into judicial custody which has irked the victim's family. Dipesh Bashyal, police inspector of APO, Saljhundi, said that the suspects mentioned in the complaint are under police investigation but they have not been booked as they are less likely to escape.
The deceased was a 10th grader at Peace Land Bhupu Sainik Public School. It had been a year since Samikshya had started living in the house of her father. After being ill-treated by the family members, Samikshya who had gone for an inter-caste marriage started living at her parents' home since her pregnancy. According to Bom, Samikshya who lived at her maternal home since childhood insisted on going to her father's house and fighting for her mother's rights.
Bom claims that Samikshya was killed by her family members due to the fear of giving her family property. He further said that Samikshya had filed a police complaint earlier as well after being beaten by the family members.
Police agree that the nature of the crime is serious but it needs further investigation. "We cannot just arrest the suspects on the basis of the complaint. We will first have to find more details regarding the incident," said Shyam Gyawali, chief of Rupandehi Police.
