Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Speaker,House of Representatives, Federal Parliament of Nepal, who was accused of raping a woman on Sunday has resigned until investigations are complete – to allow fair investigation.
On Monday, a report by HamraKura said a woman, an employee of the Federal Parliament Secretariat was raped by House Speaker Mahara. The incident allegedly occurred on Sunday evening at the employee’s apartment in Tinkune when her husband was away.
According to the report, an intoxicated Mahara showed himself to her apartment with a drink and some snacks in his hand. Making himself comfortable, he asked the victim to share a few drinks with him – halfway down the bottle, he showed his ‘demonic’ nature, wherein he forced himself on the victim. The report also states Mahara used violence, and a few marks remain.
According to the report, the victim called the police and informed her landlord of the incident after Speaker Mahara left – while the police took a few images no mention of any follow up is made. Accordingly, police also said no FIR was lodged by the victim.
The news made headlines as soon as it broke – Mahara’s secretariat issued a press statement calling the accusations baseless and issued out of personal vendetta. Meanwhile, enraged public demanded justice – many even questioning why ‘Mahara has not been taken into police custody’ yet?
The incident also called for an emergency meeting between party leaders of – PM K P Sharma Oli, party co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, and General Secretary Bishnu Poudel. Sources then said, ‘Mahara is likely to resign as the accusation is grave’.
While the political developments continue to blaze, we are yet again faced with another situation of reckless case handling by the police.
The incident also asks these questions which the media report by Hamra Kura makes no remark on:
- Why wasn’t an FIR lodged?
- Was the victim taken for a medical check-up? (An immediate medical checkup is essential to prove one’s claim in court).
- Who was the police officer? Is he to be held accountable for negligence? Did he report the incident to his superiors at the station?
