KANCHANPUR, Nov 2: Friday marks the 100th day of teenage Nirmala Pant's rape and subsequent murder. Despite the change in the leadership of Kanchanpur police, formation of multiple probe committees and protests from all quarters to create pressure for prompt delivery of justice, Nirmala's case remains an unsolved mystery with zero progress in the investigation.
Police investigation drew severe criticism from early on as it became apparent that security personnel were involved in destroying the evidences from the incident site. There were further setbacks after police resorted to framing innocents. Since then, they have been struggling to bring out the truth despite interrogating around 150 people.“No, there has not been any visible progress,” acknowledged Kanchanpur's Superintendent of Police (SP) Kuver Kadayat.
Nirmala murder case remains a mystery even after five years
At the local tea shops, one can hear many opinions regarding the incident. Many locals believe that the real culprits have strong political protection. They claim that the government is actually protecting the perpetrators.“We need the government to tell us why they are not able to book the culprit,” said Meena Bhandari, coordinator of the struggle committee formed to pressurize the government to deliver justice to Nirmala.The Bhandari-led group submitted a letter of memorandum to Sudur Paschim Province Chief Minister Trilocahan Bhatta.
Although police have already acknowledged that vital evidence of the case have been destroyed, none of the probe committees formed by the government has been able to explain the reasons behind it. Locals have termed the silence as fishy.So far, police have tested DNA of nine suspects, including SP Dillip Bista and his son Kiran.
However, none of the tests has led the investigation anywhere.Likewise, a total of eight probe committees have been formed. Yet, none of them have found any clue. All the investigations are without progress.
The 13-year-old girl from Bhimdatta Municipality-2 went missing on July 26 after she went to her friends' house. Her body was found the next day in a sugarcane field.
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