KATHMANDU, June 6: After 69 days of the mysterious death of a former Kamlari Srijana Chaudhary, Metropolitan Police Range Office, Lalitpur, police on Wednesday said that the cause of the death was suicide resulting from her failure to pass exams at school.
While Kamlaris are intensifying nationwide protests along with the talks with the government, the police said that its conclusion that the girl´s death was not a murder was based on evidences, facts and eyewitnesses notes. [break]
Senior Superintendent of Police Rajendra Man Shrestha, Chief at MPRO Lalitpur, said, “Though we are still investigating the case, so far we don´t have strong evidences to support that the girl was murdered.”
But the protesting former Kamlaris have claimed that the 12-year-old girl was murdered and are demanding that the case be investigated by taking the accused in police custody.
The girl was found with severe burns in the house of Yubaraj Poudel, an engineer working under the Ministry of Local Development, at Chakupat in Lalitpur district on March 27, 2013. She died in the hospital while undergoing treatment.
Kamlaris have also claimed that the police are trying to brush the case off under political influence. But SSP Shrestha said, “There is no reason for us to protect the accused if the evidences supported the charge of murder or sexual harassment.” The circumstances and evidences surrounding the incident and medical reports of both the accused ones and the deceased don´t support the claim of murder, he repeated. We had thoroughly studied the medical and post mortem reports, so there is no point in making baseless claims, he told journalists.
Basant Shakya, one of the eye-witnesses who had tried to rescue the girl, told journalists that the girl was seen engulfed in fire on the top floor of the house, crying for help. "There was nobody at home at the time," Shakya said.
He said, “After the incident, I called Poudel but he asked me to remain on the spot until he arrived.”
"Later, we took her to the hospital where she was declared brought dead," he said, adding, "But we don´t have any idea on the crux of the suicide."
He also said the room was open when they entered to rescue her.
But Kamlaris have been arguing that the girl was locked in the room from outside and the incident occurred when the wife and children of the accused were out of town.
Srijana had failed exams twice in the same class and seemed frustrated, said SSP Shrestha.
Meanwhile, the talks between the government and the agitating Kamlaris, which was scheduled for Wednesday, ended without any formal talks on the issues. According Chandra Kumar Tharu, coordinator of the agitating committee, the talks will not formally begin until the accused are under police custody.
“We discussed informally some issues but we will sit for talks only after those involved in Srijana´s and Meghi Chaudhari´s death are taken into police custody,” he added.
The talks between Kamlari struggle committee and the government was led by Riddi Baba Joshi, Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare. Kamlaris have been staging protests in the capital since a week demanding their proper rehabilitation and safety, among other points. They have said that the latest police report was not acceptable to them.
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