Safik Minya, who was nominated to the CA by the UCPN (Maoist) under proportional quota, has been accused of sexually exploiting his domestic help, a 13-year-old girl, for over the last one year.[break]
The police, acting on a tip-off, raided Minya´s residence at Pokhara-9; and rescued the victim on Friday. On Saturday, the victim´s mother lodged a written complaint against Minya at the District Police Office, Kaski.
“We had received a tip-off that Minya was sexually exploiting a minor in his own house,” said Rabindra Poudel, spokesperson for the Kaski police. “When we raided his house, Minya was not there. But we found the girl and rescued her.”
In her statement to the police, the victim has revealed that Minya first threatened her to have sex with him; and later Minya coaxed her into having "natural and unnatural sexual relations" frequently, according to Poudel.
“At first, he (Minya) forced me into having sex with him. Later, he frequently exploited me by assuring to marry me and buy me a lot of ornaments,” Poudel quoted the victim as telling the police.
The former lawmaker´s wife Subeda Minya has also revealed that her husband was caught red handed in compromising positions with the housemaid many times. “Every time I caught him red handed with the girl, he apologized and promised that he would not repeat the mistake,” Subeda told Republica on Saturday. “But, he repeated the mistake over and over again.”
Following the raid at his house, Minya, 39, has gone into hiding. His mobile phone was switched-off all through the day on Friday. Poudel said that the police are searching for him. Originally from Syangja district, Minya has been living in Pokhara for many years now.
The victim had been working at Minya´s house since last year. Minya had been paying Rs 1,000 as the girl´s monthly salary to her mother, who is very poor. The mother said that she never realized that "a reputed person like Minya" could do this to her daughter.
As per the Muluki Ain, the civil code of the country, even a consensual sexual relationship between a man and a girl below 16 years of age amounts to rape. Poudel said that the police will file a case of rape against Minya as the girl allegedly exploited by him is under 14 years of age.
As per the existing laws, Minya, if convicted of raping a minor, can face a maximum of 10 years in jail. Poudel said that Minya could face one more year in jail as he has also been charged with having "unnatural sexual relation with a minor".
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