Life term for Bara rapist

BIRGUNJ, March 17:Bara District Court on Tuesday slapped a life term in prison with confiscation of property on Kanhai Prasad Gupta for raping six-year-old Puja Sah nearly a month ago.

A single bench of District Judge Lipta Bahadur Thapa convicted 28-year old Gupta of Kalaiya Municipality-4 of rape and murder and handed down a jail term of 35 years, along with property confiscation.


The court issued the verdict after continuous hearings and it also ordered Gupta to pay compensation of Rs 200,000 to the victim's family.

"The court issued the verdict as per Provision 85 (Ka), under which additional evidence in a case is not required when both plaintif and defendent concur," said Roshan Bhattarai, records officer at Baara District Court. Gupta had confessed to the crimes in court.

According to Bhattarai, the court handed down a 15-year jail term with compensation of Rs 200,000 for the victim's family on the rape charge. It also slapped a 20-year jail term with confiscation of property on a murder charge.

He further informed that Gupta has been sent to Birgunj jail.

Puja Sah was raped by Gupta on February 20. A day after the incident, she was found lying unconscious at the spot where she was raped. She was airlifted to Kathmandu the next day. The daughter of Badri Narayan Sah of Kalaiya-4 breathed her last on March 8, when the International Women's Day was being marked globally. She was receiving treatment at Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu.

Following her death, civil society leaders formed a "Beti Bachau" (save daughters) campaign committee..

Placing the body in front of the District Administration Office (DAO) Bara, they continued their protests for six consecutive days. The victim's family performed the last rites only on Saturday after the local administration agreed to fulfill their demands.

A scientific investigation into the rape and murder of the girl child, resignation of the home minister and compensation of Rs 1 million for the victim's family were among the demands forwarded by the protestors to the government, according to the campaign committee. The case also triggered nationwide protests.

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