Three girls whom a ‘deranged’ man had kept tied like animals were rescued from Bungmati, Lalitpur, on Wednesday. Police have arrested the perpetrator, Maila Shakya, who used to tie the girls with chains the whole day and free them only during the night.

Photo Courtesy : Samacharpatra Daily
Buddhalaxmi, Shakyalaxmi and Mayalaxmi, all 10-year-old orphan girls, had been enduring this kind of pain since several months. Police and the child rights NGOs rescued them with the help of the local people.

When police, rights activists and journalists reached Maila’s place, a makeshift hut built on an open ground in Bungmati, a girl appeared tied with shackles. It is suspected that Maila used to forcibly involve the girls in sexual activities during the night but it is yet to be confirmed independently.

Bharat Adhikary, programme officer of CWIN, a child rights NGO, said one of the victims is mentally ill. The condition of other two girls, however, is normal. The mental condition of Maila, too, appeared not to be very sound, he said.

Locals said Maila, who makes his living as a porter, used to go outside for work in daytime, leaving the girls shackled. Maila told police that he used to free the girls from chains after returning home. CWIN, Legal Aid and Consultancy Centre (LACC) jointly filed a complaint at the Lalitpur District Police Office following the rescue of the girls.

All three of them have been kept at CWIN helpline. Maila has now been kept at Lalitpur DPO. According to Assistant Sub-Inspector Kopila Chudal of District Police Office’s Women Cell, investigation has started to find out the mental condition of the perpetrator.

Locals said that he used to bring along with him mentally retarded women and girl-children while returning home from his work. But, as he didn’t appear to be in a right mental condition, the villagers had stopped concerning with his daily activities.

Police said that the girls had to endure all this suffering because nobody showed concern about Maila’s crime from the last eight years.