KATHMANDU, Feb 8: A police constable accused of rape has been arrested and brought back to Nepal from India, leading a young woman to end her month-long protest in Kathmandu.
The accused, police constable Bhupendra Singh Thagunna, was taken into custody after the woman had been staging a sit-in at Maitighar, demanding legal action. She had alleged that she was raped while Thagunna was posted in Surkhet and claimed she was carrying a seven-month-old fetus as a result of the assault. Following his arrest on Friday, she called off her protest.
After ending the sit-in, the woman left for Surkhet on Saturday (Magh 25). Thagunna had reportedly gone absent from duty and fled after the protest began, prompting intensified efforts by the police to locate him.
Police constable arrested with bribe
Officials initially stated that a team from the Valley Crime Investigation Office detained Thagunna near the “Golden Gate” area of Tribhuvan International Airport on Friday and later sent him to Surkhet on Saturday for further investigation.
However, police sources have indicated that the arrest was carried out in India. According to officials from the Kathmandu Valley Police Office, Thagunna was apprehended in Bengaluru with the coordination of Indian police and then brought back to Nepal. The pressure to arrest him had increased after the woman continued her protest for nearly a month, and authorities acted after receiving information that he had crossed into India.
The police have confirmed that further legal proceedings will now move forward in Surkhet.
