The murder of Banudevi Rana, 69, Naxal, Dugadmarg-1 on 11th November at the hands of two women is just a case in point. [break]
Junita Thapa aka Jenisha, 22, of Gaagalfedi-2, Thapagaun and Kalpana Giri, 34, of Jorpati-3, Nayabasti were arrested for the murder of Rana, who had just returned from the US after celebrating Dashain with her daughter who lives there.
The police say that it is the first case in Kathmandu Valley masterminded and executed exclusively by women. According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Devendra Subedi, the head of Metropolitan Police Crime Division, women rarely played a leading role in heinous crimes in the past.
But this incident brought to light a completely new trend, he added, while making the two arrested public at Hanuman Dhoka on Sunday. SSP Subedi said, “In this case, women themselves planned and executed the murder. Women used to be merely accomplices in the past.”
A team of Metro Police Crime Division nabbed Thapa and Giri five days after the crime. Rana was found dead with a serious head injury. Rana´s kin and relatives informed the police after several attempts to contact her failed.
Jenisha and Kalpana struck Rana´s head with a baseball bat and then stifled the victim using pillow, according to the police. The police was able to arrest the suspects through their mobile phone calls, according to the Superintendent of Police (SP) Pradhumna Karki.
Jenisha, who masterminded the murder, was arrested from Chitwan on Saturday evening from a bus. Kalpana was arrested from Kathmandu the same day.
According to the police, Jenisha, who was also a distant relative of Rana, had been planning to rob Bhawani´s house for quite some time. “It was hard to suspect Jenisha since she is Bhawani´s relative,” police said. Jenisha had met Bhawani two days before the murder on the pretext of meeting the lonely old lady.
SSP Subedi said that the motive of the culprit doesn´t seem to be murder but to physically injure the victim to rob the house. The police have seized Rs 48,417, US $325, gold bangles, ear rings and necklace and mobile sets from them. Jenisha had been living alone after divorcing her husband.
Related story
One in four countries reported backlash on Women’s Rights in 20...
