Rape victim interrogated in public

DHARAN, Sept 16: A 14-year-old rape victim was openly interrogated in public outside the Area Police Office in Dharan on Wednesday. The minor, who was raped two days ago, was questioned by a clerk of a law firm outside the police station even as inspector Mohan Bikram Thapa advised this scribe not to ask the girl about lurid details of the incident. [break]



Many people in the crowd, who had gathered during questioning, expressed sympathy when the clerk was asking the girl about the incident. “I took her out for interrogation to lodge a complaint on her behalf,” said clerk Baburam Katwal. Her father had also accompanied her to the police station. “Many type of persons come to us. There is bound to be a crowd. What can we do?” Katwal responded when asked why she was questioned in public.



Offender trying to manipulate the case



Meanwhile, knowing that the victim´s family is poor and uneducated, the family of the offending police constable Suresh Kumar Sah has tried to manipulate them into withdrawing the case.



“They have offered to provide Rs 30,000 for my daughters´ education if I withdrew the case,” said the victim´s father. Two relatives of Sah from Lahan are also trying to persuade the victim´s father, who raises his family by selling firewood, to accept the money and withdraw the case, said a police source.



However, Inspector Thapa said that the filing of the case was delayed as two of the offenders are still at large. “Moreover, the medical report is yet to come,” Thapa reasoned. The girl was raped by a group of four including Sah on Monday.

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