The girl, a seventh grader at a local government school, had gone to sleep in her elder sister´s house as she was left alone in her home that day. Her parents had gone to Dhangadhi. Her brother, too, was away. She thought she would feel safe in her elder sister´s house. But, she was raped by her own brother-in-law, who did not even mind the presence of his own wife.
The victim´s elder sister, who witnessed the tragic incident, committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree the next day. The victim, who is now in a shelter home run by Women´s Rehabilitation Center (WOREC), an NGO, has been losing her consciousness frequently after the incident. "My sister was sleeping with her one year old son on a bed; I was sleeping on another bed in the same room," recalls the girl. "In the midnight, I woke up to face the tragedy. He (the brother-in-law) stuffed my mouth with a handkerchief and raped me." [break]
The victim´s brother-in-law has been detained in District Police Office of Kailali. The police say they are likely to present the accused before a district court in a few days.
Two weeks ago, an eight-year-girl was raped by her own grandfather, who is now 65. The victim, who is from Tikapur-9 of Kailali, is now undergoing treatment at a local hospital. The accused is now in the custody of Kailali police.
Around the same time, a 10-year-old girl from Dhangadhi municipality-11 was raped by a neighbor, whom she called her brother. Although the victim´s family lodged a complaint, the accused has not been nabbed so far.
In the past one month, three minor girls have been raped by either their own relatives or neighbors in Kailali district. Women rights activists say minor girls always face threats of rape from their own relatives rather than strangers. "Only a few men involved in rape cases have been convicted of crimes," says Sangita Adhikari, Kailai district coordinator of WOREC. "The state of impunity has encouraged other men to rape minor girls."
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