The rape and murder of a three-year-old girl has sparked outrage across Nepal, with demands growing for a swift investigation and tougher laws.
The child went missing from her home in Bara, almost 127km from the capital Kathmandu in Madhesh province, on 16 August. Her mutilated and decomposed body was found at a nearby abandoned house three days later after neighbours reported a smell.
Police said a 24-year-old driver and a 17-year-old helper on a bus were among the suspects arrested in connection with the case.
Bara police spokesperson Min Bahadur Ghale confirmed the girl had been raped and murdered and that suspects had been identified and arrested.
But anger has mounted over the police’s response, including alleged delay in the search for the girl and the release on social media of a video purportedly showing the 17-year-old suspect giving a statement.
The girl’s family alleged that the police didn’t respond with urgency while her father and neighbours mounted a frantic search.
The father alleged that police instead lashed out at them and asked them to name suspects.
“I raised the matter with the police,” he said, according to the Kathmandu Post. “But they said they could not proceed merely on what I was saying, and asked me to file a formal complaint by naming suspects.”
The father also informed police that a local man had disappeared and provided his contact details, the paper reported, but they did not act promptly on the information.
Police have rejected the allegation that they failed to conduct a timely search but have launched an inquiry into the leak of footage purportedly showing the teenage suspect describing the incident to investigators. Police said the leak should not have happened while the investigation was ongoing.
Protests erupted following the recovery of the child’s body last week and continued for several days, with angry locals blocking highways.
Many protesters displayed placards and shouted slogans demanding accountability from police and the government. Demonstrators and activists called for changes to laws related to rape and sexual violence and demanded severe punishment for the perpetrators.
The girl’s body was collected from a local hospital on Sunday and cremated.
The girl’s family secured a written agreement from the government promising to create a memorial in her honour, remove two police officers from operational duties and make laws for such offences stricter.
On Thursday, members of the National Assembly urged the government to strengthen laws to prevent violence against children and women.
According to police records, Nepal saw over 25,000 cases of rape and sexual abuse between 2017 and 2015. At least 3,200 of the victims were under the age of 10.