The 21-year-old nun, who was raped inside a passenger bus by five men including the bus driver, at Sabha Khola in Sankhuwasabha district in the night of June 24, was taken to Drolma´s Arya Tara School in Pharping Tuesday afternoon after being discharged from the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH).[break]
There were offers to keep the victim at a counseling center but she was ultimately taken to the nun´s school where she is expected to be more comfortable. The victim was feeling more comfortable with nuns during her two-week stay at TUTH. “We have taken her on a temporary basis but she can continue her study here if she so wishes,” said Drolma, founder of the school which she claimed offers both Buddhist and secular education to its nuns.
There have been doubts about reinstatement of the rape victim as a nun after losing her chastity. “The religious dictum requires a nun to be virgin. So, it will be difficult to take her back. But we will lobby for her reinstatement as it is a unique incident,” President of Nepal Tamang Ghedung Kumar Yonjan had said a few days ago. But there was uncertainty about whether she would be taken back by the monastery. The victim was returning home after confirming admission at a monastery in Pokhara when the incident occurred.
“She is still a nun at heart and she didn´t lose her virginity willingly. I will consult our gurus and maybe she would be taken back after some sort of cleansing rituals,” Drolma, the singing nun, stated. The nuns at Arya Tara would not be told about the victim´s misfortune, Drolma assured, as she may feel uncomfortable with over-sympathetic attitude of fellow school mates.
TUTH, which had admitted the victim following intense pressure from the National Women´s Commission (NWC), the Health Ministry, Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin) and others after initially refusing to admit her, discharged her Tuesday asking her to return for a follow-up a week later. “Her condition has improved and she has started to eat but she vomits after ingesting anything. The doctors have prescribed medicines for the problem,” the victim´s uncle Surya Bahadur Tamang said.
Court calls victim for statement
Sanhuwasabha District Court has summoned the victim to Sankhuwasabha on August 16 for her statement. But her family said she cannot go there due to her poor health.
The date can be postponed if a medical report stating her health conditions is sent to the district court, according to Constituent Assembly Member Sapana Malla who is a lawyer by profession. “We don´t have the facility of video conferencing as in other countries and hence the victim must be physically present at the court for her statement,” Malla explained.
“We will make arrangements to send two government attorneys along with her when she goes to the court for statement,” Malla added.
The court has sent the five offenders to judicial custody after a rape and robbery case was lodged against them. A sum of Rs 130,000 that the nun´s aunt in Kakarbhitta, Jhapa, had given her for construction work on a new house in Khatamma, went missing during the rape incident.
Police had arrested the driver of Bhawana Travels bus (Na 2 Kha 1395) Raju Limbu, 21, of Terhathum, ticket checker Sovit Magar, 17, of Pakhribas, Dhankuta, conductor Bhuwan Gurung, 24, of Madirambeni, Sankhuwasabha, bus help Avishek Magar, 18, of Dharan-15, and bus help from another bus Drona Bahadur Rai, 27, of Itahari-5, Sunsari, from Chainpur when they were returning with the unconscious nun inside the bus cabin the next morning, June 25.
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