‘Maoists were involved in the rape’; Saptari CDO, ‘The allegations are false’: Maoists

August 23, 2005
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There have been allegations and counter-allegations between local authorities and Maoist insurgents regarding alleged rape of a number of dalit women in the southern district of Saptari last week.

Talking to Nepalnews Tuesday, chief district officer of Saptari, Tilak Ram Sharma, blamed the Maoists for Friday’s incident. He said he had visited Koshibandh at Jagatpur VDC—where the incident took place—Tuesday morning.

Sharma quoted local villagers as saying that nearly two dozen armed insurgents visited the village Friday evening and asked them to prepare food. After dinner, they allegedly raped women members of the families in the presence of their family members. Before leaving the village, they threatened the villagers not to tell anything about the incident to anybody.

CDO Sharma said he was able to speak to only one of the victims but that the number of rape victims could be much more than that.

“The nature of the crime tells that the criminals were none other than Maoist insurgents,” Sharma said. “The district administration is investigating the incident,” he said. He did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, an area committee member of the Maoists, Prabin, has called local media persons over phone and refuted allegations. District Secretary of the CPN (Maoist) of Saptari has also refuted such allegations, reports said.

The Maoists said they have captured a person with criminal background on charge of raping village women posing as the Maoists. They said they were investigating the incident and also looking for more people said to be involved in the incident.

The Maoists have also called for independent investigation of the incident.

Human rights groups including Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) have condemned the incident and called for bringing the culprit to book.