Held for public offence, the arrested will now face caste-based discrimination and untouchability charges as well.
Summoning Maya Sarki,30, to a local school a day after she lodged a complaint to the police against her attempted rape, the assailants had not only mercilessly thrashed her but had put a garland of shoes over her neck and smeared black soot over her face. [break]
Biswokarma, a journalist, was also manhandled for siding with her.
DSP Deepak Koirala further informed that the investigation into the case will take some time because many others were also involved in the case are yet to be nabbed.
Meanwhile, media persons Bhoj Raj Basnet and Narendra Basnet have also been charged under electronic transaction act for recording and broadcasting the public humiliation.
"We are interrogating both the journalists and another local Raju Basnet from Belbari VDC," said DSP Koirala. Based on the statement of Manoj, Basnet had provoked the locals.
Meanwhile, Principal of the school Lila Acharya has said that "the locals were definitely angry for falsely charging a youth from the village for an attempted rape, but I don´t think they attacked them for being Dalits".
"As to my study, Manoj was first in reaching the spot where the locals had called him. Finding him alone, locals suspected him of hiding Maya and the group turned hostile toward him. Three hours later when Maya entered, she was also welcomed with similar rage," added Acharya.
According to Acharya, the concept of racial discrimination and untouchability does not exist in the whole village as all casts have been living in harmony for years.
Meanwhile, a group of women on Sunday organized a rally to keep social and communal harmony intact in the locality. Handing over a memorandum to Belbari Area Police Station, they have also demanded stern action against the perpetrators.
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