Extramarital relations spawning crime

KATHMANDU, Sept 9: In urban Nepal, extramarital relations are spawning heinous offences very similar to organized crimes in many respects, experts say.



Contrary to conventional stories of infidelity in which women and children would be at the receiving end, Nepal is now seeing murders, extortion and intimidation directly linked with extramarital relations. In some cases observed in recent times, it is the husband who has been the victim of crime.[break]



Such criminal cases resulting from adultery demand as much toil for investigation as organized crimes do, experts say.



There were two murder cases in mid-2010 and one in 2009 that were directly related to extramarital relations. All three cases exhibited modus operandi less commonly observed in homicides.



Adulterous wife behind husband´s murder



Sita Shrestha, 27 and her boyfriend Yam Bahadur Shrestha, 26, were sent to judicial custody last week for allegedly murdering Sita´s husband Krishna Bahadur Shrestha, 47.



Krishna was killed on August 13 in an attack at Trishna Restaurant at Masang Galli. Krishna owned the restaurant. Police investigation revealed that Sita, together with Yam, had planned for four months to kill Krishna.



Money is believed to be the motive behind the murder.



A few weeks before the murder, Sita had even lodged at the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) a complaint of phone threats from a number that was later found in her own possession.



“The complaint was intended to divert the attention of investigators after the murder,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dev Bahadur Bohara, chief of the Homicide Pillar at MPCD.



Husband kills wife to please girlfriend



In another chilling incident, Saroj Phuyal, 20, who hails from the northern suburban area of Kavresthali in the capital, strangled his wife Anju on July 18 during a purported honeymoon trip in Pokhara. Police investigations revealed that Saroj killed Anju to please his girlfriend.



“It was a big drama, much like a film story,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Dinesh Amatya of MPCD said, adding, “The mens rea in that case was much deeper than that generally found in usual social crimes.”



Woman killed by lover



In yet another shocking case, Dhana Kumari Shrestha, 26, of Bhojpur, was killed by her partner Pawan Nepali at Kandaghari, Kathmandu, in November, 2009.



She reportedly had physical relations with Pawan, a soldier, while her husband was abroad.



Investigative officials said Pawan had killed Dhana Kumari following a calculated plan.



“He buried the body in sand mine to hide the case,” officials said. Pawan even fled police custody while still in handcuffs but was arrested later.



It is unclear why Pawan killed his lover.



“These cases show that social phenomenon like extramarital relations are leading to crimes of organized nature. For some, extramarital relation is more than just a problem resolvable through social mediation or normal judicial practices,” Amatya added.



Adultery triggering multifarious crimes



According to officials at the MPCD´s Women Cell, almost each case of adultery seems to have resulted in offenses like torture, intimidation and extortion. Even children are victimized in many cases.



When money is the prime motive, torture, intimidation and extortion starts.



“A large chunk of phone threats is related to the unsettled adultery cases,” said Amatya who holds that extramarital relations appear to have impelled the persons concerned to indulge in organized and financial crimes.



Investigative officials also said that most of the so-called gang leaders in the capital are known to have multiple mistresses besides wives.



Nuclear families vulnerable



While all family structures are prone to extramarital problems, it is the nuclear family that is less equipped to handle such problems and therefore more vulnerable to related crime, according to a woman police officer.



Cases rising



The number of crimes resulting from extramarital affairs taken over by the police is increasing.



Nepal Police´s Women Cell at Kalimati prosecuted 11 cases of bigamy in fiscal year 66/67 while it was only six in the year 65/66.



“Only the cases relating to conscious middle class and elite class tend to go to the courts,” said Inspector Harsha Maya Shrestha, in-charge of the Women Cell.



“Lower middle class is problematic when it comes to extramarital relations. Because family dependency is relatively higher, the cases go to greater lengths with domestic violence,” she added.

Related story

Extramarital link leads to constable’s killing in Birgunj