A young woman was forced into a sugarcane field and raped by Farmud Ansari and Murduj Ansari of Mahottarai district two years ago. The perpetrators were caught. But instead of punishing them, locals padlocked the girl's house and expelled her from the village for "corrupting" local youth. With the help of police and political leaders, the girl received compensation of Rs 40,000. But half of it was taken away by party leaders as donation for 'community development fund.'
A 17-year-old girl in Bairganiya village of Mahottari district was raped by a 25-year-old Ranjit Das last year. He had also filmed the incident and circulated the minute-long video via mobile and YouTube. When local authorities were informed, they colluded with local bigwigs and forced the girl to marry the rapist, instead of punishing the man. Das is now in custody, but the video has gone viral and has reached even Nepalis in Qatar and Malaysia.
Last August, another 17-year-old girl from the same district was raped by Ahmed Miya, who got his friend to record the act on his mobile phone. By coincidence, a young man from their village saw the video on a phone in Qatar and alerted the girl's family. But instead of arresting the culprit, village leaders forced the girl to marry the rapist.
An 18-year-old girl from Mahottari was gang-raped in broad daylight while carrying water from the communal well recently. Police arrested the rapists and took their case to district police office. But the girl's family withdrew their complaint after powerful locals intervened. "They threatened us; we are poor, what can we do?" the girl's mother told me.
There have been 11 rape cases registered in Rautahat district in the past year, of which nine have been settled through written agreements after the victim's family was threatened. There are 17 rape cases registered at Women's Cell in Rautahat. But there is immense pressure on police not to investigate. Sixteen rape cases are pending in courts for past three years in Mahottari district. Because they don't trust police, many victims take cases to the Women's Rights Group in Jaleshwar which has already registered 37 rape cases.
A six year-old rape victim from Kalaiya succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at Kanti Children's Hospital this week while the world was observing 105th International Women's Day. She was admitted on February 22 following a brutal rape. The girl was found unconscious at a garbage disposal site of Kalaiya-6 on the morning of February 21.
There are many such incidents which are not reported in the media. Rape for ransom is thriving because of rising impunity. Many victims are minors violated by neighbors, teachers and relatives, but they are forced to settle the case in hush-hush.
The rapists who come from powerful families are never punished. The victims who are poor never get justice because the police collude to cover up crimes.
In every village and in every city, women are victims of domestic violence. There are no rehabilitation centers or camps for victims. This has resulted in a situation where they cannot report violence for fear of reprisal. Most women do not report to police due to fear of dishonoring family name. Instead, they quietly suffer. In many remote places, women are unable to even report to the police due to geographical remoteness. In this situation, media plays an important role. Media's role has been encouraging in the recent times. There are incidents in which culprits were apprehended due to publication of certain news. But this is not enough.
The government must treat violence against women as a serious problem. They must instruct police to register and investigate every case and bring perpetrators to justice. We cannot have peace in Nepal unless our government upholds the right of women to live without fear of violence at home, workplace and public places. It is the government's responsibility to encourage the police to cooperate with rape victims and punish those who do not.
The author is a Human Right Lawyer at Supreme Court lawyerroshankumarjha@gmail.com
Related story
`That 70s Show’ actor Danny Masterson charged in 3 rapes
