KAPILVASTU, Oct 11: A twenty-year-old girl's marriage has been called off after she was raped by her neighbors.

Speaking at a press conference organized in Taulihawa on Wednesday, the victim from Shivaraj Municipality-10 in Lapur of Kapilvastu district publicly accused twenty-one-year-old Rahman Gaddhi and Jaisulla Gaddhi, 51, of the same village of raping her on October 3.

Both of them are the neighbors of the victim. According to her, she was raped in the field behind her house. Her parents said that their daughter's marriage was cancelled soon after the incident came to light.

"We had arranged her marriage in April, but the groom's family refused to get married after finding out about the incident," said the victim's mother with eyes full of tears. She laments that her daughter's life has been completely ruined after the rape.

"I wonder who will marry my daughter now?" questioned the mother. They also claimed that the perpetrators are mentally torturing them since the incident. The victim's mother informed that Rahman's uncle Lal Mohammad has been continuously pressurizing them to take back their complaint. Reportedly, he offered them Rs 500,000 and 2 bigha land to do so.

"We declined his proposal as justice matters more to us than the money," said the victim's mother, adding, "We are not the ones to exchange our daughter's prestige with money. We want the culprit to be booked."

While the 51-year-old Jaisallah was arrested three days after the incident, Rahman managed to escape. It has been learnt that Jaisallah confident that the police would not arrest him because of his close ties with the law enforcement officials. Instead of running away with Rahman, he stayed at home without any fear of possible arrest after the incident. Police only arrested him after continuous pressure from the villagers.

Four months ago, he was beaten up by the locals on the charge of raping a 17-year-old girl of the same village. However, the incident was settled after he offered money to the victim back then.

On Wednesday, the victim's mother also accused Rahman's uncle of offering Rs 200,000 to the police in order to wrap up the case.

After a medical test at Shivaraj Hospital, it was confirmed that the girl was raped. Deputy Superintendent of Police Rabi Rawal stated that police have intensified investigation on the case and will soon book the other culprit.

 
• groom
 
• marriage
 
• called-off
 
• rape