KANCHANPUR, Dec 10: "Sorrow is not necessarily reflected just in shedding tears. My heart aches with pain every second of the day," laments Durgadevi Panta, mother of thirteen-year-old Nirmala of Bhimdatta Municipality who was raped and subsequently murdered four months ago. As it has been a long time since she has been pleading for justice for her daughter, her eyes have dried up.
This dotted mother has been continuously participating in protests to exert pressure on the responsible authorities to book the culprits involved in raping and murdering her child.
"I won't stop until I get justice for my daughter," she said. She had to go to Kathmandu in the middle of their indefinite sit-in after her husband Yagyaraj showed signs of mental illness.
Women stage sit-in for release of report on Nirmala case
Now, she has been waiting for the police to reveal the DNA reports of Pradip Rawal and Bishal Chaudhary, the latest suspects in the case. At a time when police have been accused of arresting two more innocent people to frame them as culprits, Durgadevi says the investigation must continue until the guilty is punished.
To the streets with blindfolds
Demanding that the culprits be booked as soon as possible, women rights activists on Sunday staged protests in front of the District Administration Office (DAO), Kanchanpur with blindfolds. They started the protest at around 1 pm and continued for two hours.
"We will continue our protest until the perpetrator is brought behind the bars," said Mina Bhandari, coordinator of Civil Struggle Committee, adding, "We are planning to take our protest to another level from tomorrow onward."
Nirmala's family continues indefinite sit in
The family members of Nirmala have been staging indefinite sit-in since November 11, in order to exert pressure on the government to deliver justice to the teenager. Laxmi Panta, stepmother of the deceased, continued the protest when Nirmala's mother had to go to Kathmandu for the treatment of her husband. Now, Yagyaraj's two wives are continuing the sit-in together in his absence.
