2 April, 2018
A delegation of representatives from Nepal’s Civil Society Organisations including Amnesty International Nepal paid a visit to the Honorable Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa on 2 April expressing concern over the rising incidents of violence against women particularly incidents of rape across the country.
The delegation drew his attention toward the lack of proactive action by the police in taking legal actions against the accused, and the rising trend of mediation facilitated in some cases by the complicity of law enforcement officials in a large number of cases at the community levels.
The delegation demanded with the Minister, among others, 1) to proactively monitor cases of gender based violence by mobilising police in a large scale, taking FIRs, conducting prompt and proactive investigations on cases based on any information, and thus ensuring the criminal accountability 2) Undertaking steps to repeal the provision of statute of limitation which has remained as the biggest hurdle for victims of rape to access justice and ensuring at a minimum that there is no statute of limitation in the cases of rape against girls 3) Monitoring the performance of police officers who have been tasked to register FIRs and undertake investigation on such cases; and taking departmental actions against those failing to perform or refusing to act 4) Sending circulars in all police offices in the districts to provide an environment of ease and comfort for the victims who come up with complaints and providing them necessary protection, and reminding the police officers of the provision of departmental action failing to carry out the assigned task 5) Taking steps to amend the laws to define refusal to register FIR and evade criminal investigation as a punishable criminal offense 6) Undertaking wider campaign initiatives across the country including with the involvement of civil society organizations, media, National Human Rights Commission, National Women Commission, Schools, Universities and the local governments to demonstrate the State’s zero tolerance in cases of sexual and gender based violence.