National Assembly members demand removal of statute of limitations in rape cases

Published On: May 23, 2022 06:00 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, May 23: National Assembly (NA) members have drawn the attention of the House and the government to the country’s contemporary issues.

Speaking in the special hour of the upper house session today, Krishna Prasad Poudel of the Nepali Congress (NC) thanked the government for its role in the conclusion of the local-level elections recently.

CPN-UML’s Bhairav Sundar Shrestha accused the government of promoting inflation by increasing the prices of petroleum products time and again in the past seven months. “People in the neighboring country India get a government subsidy on fuel.”

Similarly, Maya Prasad Sharma of the CPN (Maoist Center) apprised the session that the common folks were marred by a high market price. Even the election had become costlier, he said.

As he said, though a one-year time limit for rape causes obstructions for dealing with rape case(s) before the time limit, the perpetrator(s) must be punished this or that way.

CPN (Unified Socialist)’s Jayanti Devi Rai apprised the session of the rising incidences of violence including rape against women and demanded the guarantee of a safe space for women.

Pramila Kumari of Janata Samajbadi demanded a life imprisonment for rape.

Independent member Dr Khimlal Devkota insisted on removing the time limit for registering a rape case while Bhagawati Neupane of the UML spoke the need for removing age limit for registering a case against rape.

Dr Bimala Rai stressed the need for revising the law regarding rape as sooner as possible or bringing a new law with stringent provisions against the crime.

Hariram Chaudhary of the Maoist Center accused the Nepali state of discriminating against the Tharu community and demanded the withdrawals of cases filed against the Tharu people during different movements.

Uday Bahadur Bohara of the CPN (Unified Socialist) urged the government to address the issues of people at the grassroots through its policies and programs and the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Sumitra BC of the UML expressed her grudges over a limited space for women candidacy by the alliance government in the May 13 local level elections.

Jag Prasad Sharma of the Maoist Center demanded an end to inflation and corruption while Narayan Dutta Mishra of the NC was of the view of promoting domestic products.