Parliament clash as Gurung sidesteps questions on Nirmala Pant case

KATHMANDU, Aug 6: Home Minister Sudan Gurung declined to directly answer questions in the National Assembly regarding the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant, instead countering lawmakers' queries and urging them not to raise the case in Parliament.

Speaking during Thursday's question-and-answer session, Gurung asked lawmakers to refrain from bringing up the case again, arguing that doing so only reopened the wounds of the victim's family.

Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Bishnu Bahadur Bishwakarma sought an explanation from the home minister on why the government had failed to identify those responsible for the brutal rape and murder of Nirmala Pant in Kanchanpur.

Rather than providing an update on the investigation, Gurung responded by asking, "Why didn't you resolve it when you were in power?"

Bishwakarma said the government's failure to identify the perpetrators even after years had raised questions about whether it reflected state incapence or indifference. He also noted that more than four and a half months had passed since the current government took office, yet the investigation committee had still not reached a conclusion, and asked when Nirmala would receive justice.

In response, Gurung said repeatedly discussing the case in Parliament was equivalent to reopening the wounds of Nirmala's mother.

"When someone close to you dies, does repeatedly reminding you of it bring peace?" he asked. "Should we keep reopening the mother's wounds through Parliament, or conduct a careful investigation and deliver results?"

The home minister appealed to lawmakers in both the National Assembly and the House of Representatives not to raise the Nirmala Pant case in Parliament again. He suggested that if lawmakers wanted further information, they should meet him personally instead of asking questions publicly in the legislature.

Following the minister's remarks, Bishwakarma exercised his right under parliamentary rules to ask a supplementary question, reminding Gurung that questioning ministers is a constitutional right of lawmakers and responding to such questions is the minister's responsibility.

However, Gurung refused to answer the follow-up question, saying, "I do not want to answer it."

The home minister nonetheless told Parliament that the Ministry of Home Affairs was conducting detailed, phased investigations into murder, rape and other violent crimes, and maintained that the government remained committed to maintaining law and order.