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Kavita Giri, 32, of Diktel in Khotang district, who has been working at New Pashupati Hotel at Gaushala as a cleaning woman to support her 9-year-old daughter Sushma and herself, found that her younger son Rupesh was no more, just a month after she enrolled him at the ashram in the hope of educating him. The boy was found lying dead in his bed at the ashram, with bruises and cuts apparently from violent clubbing. [break]
Sudhananda had rushed the body to Om Hospital Tuesday morning. Police took up this point with him during his grilling but he claimed that the boy died after collapsing in the toilet.
Sudhananda was alleged to have attempted a cover-up, and prevailed accordingly upon his aide and children who were eyewitnesses. "One of the boys held here told police that Sudhananda started torturing Rupesh from 9 p.m. But Sudhananda elbowed him to keep quiet," said Raj Kumar KC, a relative of Kavita.
Police also detained Sharan Koirala, 31, a subordinate of Sudhananda, and three students of the ashram. The charity center houses around 60 unprivileged children and runs a gurukul-type school of up to grade seven.
Investigative officials said the boy must have died by 1 a.m. after incessant torture from 9 p.m., the time the other children went to bed. The body was taken to TU Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj for postmortem.
"Sudhananda did not bother to inform police though everybody at the scene was sure at first sight the boy was dead," an official quoted an eyewitness as saying.
As mentioned in the initial police record of the case, the body was found to have bled from several places including ears, nose and chin, and there was swelling in the abdomen from clubbing which left bruises all over. "The face is covered in bruises with a clear impression of the five fingers of a big hand," said one official.
Sudhananda, 41, who hails from Kolkata, India and has the pious look of a Hindu sadhus, did not seem to lose his poise. "He insisted that he did not kill the boy, but refraining from answering our questions," said Inspector Jeevan Gurung.
Sudhananda had built up a personal image in the Pashupati area with his children´s home which has progressed over four years, increasing its facilities and taking in more children. He would draw in donations from India where he traveled time and again, and he was also supported by many local well-wishers. "The incident is unimaginable, taking into account what he has done to institutionalize the children´s home," said a local.
Horrendous blow
It is heart-rending for Kavita to recall that over the month after she handed Rupesh over to the ashram she was repeatedly denied any opportunity to speak to him. "I rang up Sudhananda on his cell phone time and again but he would say he was busy and ask me to try later. Once I went to the ashram in person, but he turned me back saying the boy was now used to the new atmosphere and so I had better not distract him," she said.
Kavita´s husband is in Saudi Arabia. The Giri couple has two sons and a daughter. After her husband went overseas, she came to Kathmandu six years ago with her daughter and younger son, leaving the older son, who is 12, behind in Khotang.
"All that I toiled has been for my children. I am poor but always tried not to make them feel disadvantaged," Kavita said. "I only sent my boy there for a better education."
"Neighbors suggested to me to send him to the ashram as it was difficult for me to afford his education," she added.
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