Siraha: Police have arrested eight persons in connection with the gang rape and suspicious death of Rinku Kumari Sada, 17, from Bhagawatipur of Nawarajpur rural municipality-1, Siraha. Eight individuals involved in efforts to cover up the incident and settle the case through reconciliation have been taken into custody for investigation, as stated by Senior Superintendent of Nepal Police, Shantiraj Koirala, who is also the coordinator of the investigation committee.
According to National News Agency Nepal, the adolescent girl was abducted and raped by three youths while she was on her way to the toilet from home on February 9. She had disclosed that she was gang raped. Subsequently, a ‘panchayat’, involving local leaders, convened in the village to resolve the case. However, on February 12, she was discovered hanged at her home.
Although the Area Police Office in Lahan initially began investigating the case as an abetment of suicide, the Madhes Province Police Office took over the investigation following reports that the girl had been a victim of gang rape. Last Thursday, the victim’s family filed additional allegations against eight persons, including five who participated in the ‘panchayat’, under four charges: murder attempt, rape, hostage taking, and coerced reconciliation.
Rinku Kumari’s body has been sent to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan for postmortem examination, but the report is yet to be received, SSP Koirala stated.