Sexual abuse of suspected Maoist supporter by army officer in 2004.
FACTS
In September 2004 a Royal Nepalese Army lieutenant came several times to Mrs Purna Maya’s home, in Dailekh where she was living with her daughter, to inquire about her husband. After explaining that her husband was living with his second wife in Jumla and that she wasn’t able to get him to come to Dailekh, Mrs Purna Maya was told by army officers that she would suffer the consequence.
On 23 November 2004, Mrs Purna Maya was dragged from her home by the RNA lieutenant . She was accused of being a Maoist and taken to the Bhawani Bakash army barracks for further interrogation. During the interrogation, Mrs Purna Maya was tortured by the lieutenant and raped several times by him and three other soldiers.
Mrs Purna Maya eventually managed to walk out of the army barracks and with the assistance of the shop owner near the barracks, was transported to Dailekh district hospital.
Mrs Purna Maya, suffers physical and psychological pain from the torture and the rape she was the victim of. Moreover, her husband stopped sending her food allowance for her and her daughter.
Read more: here
Procedure
Purna Maya sought compensation and relief, however no action were taken. In 2010, she started legal actions in order to get reparation for the harm suffered, however her complaint was rejected due to the 35 day statute of limitation for reporting the crime of rape, which had expired. In 2011, she filled a writ petition with the Supreme Court, requesting that the Court nullify the district-level decisions refusing to register her complaint and to order them to start investigation into the alleged offenses. Her petition was again rejected.
In 2012, Mrs Purna Maya submitted a communication to the UN Human Rights Committee, supported by Advocacy Forum-Nepal and Redress.
The Committee reached its decision on 17 March 2017, finding Nepal responsible for the violation of several of the rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights including the prohibition of torture and the right to liberty and security.
Read the decision: English Nepali
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Committee requested Nepal to conduct a thorough and effective investigation into the facts, to prosecute the perpetrators of the crimes, to provide the victim with adequate measures of compensation and satisfaction but also to ensure that the victim is provided with adequate psychological rehabilitation and medical treatment.
| Investigation into the facts | |
| No investigation has been carried out | |
| Prosecution of the perpetrators | |
| No one has been held accountable | |
| Providing adequate compensation | |
| No adequate compensation has been provided to Mrs Purna Maya | |
| Providing psychological rehabilitation and medical treatment | |
| No measures of psychological rehabilitation and no medical treatment has been provided to Mrs Purna Maya. | |
| Appropriate measures of satisfaction | |
| Mrs Purna Maya has not received any appropriate measures of satisfaction. | |
| Amendment of domestic legislation on torture and rape | |
| Albeit the new Criminal Code (entered into force in 2018) codifies torture, the definition of the crime enshrined therein and the corresponding regulation – concerning, for instance, statutes of limitation and compensation – remains at odds with international law. Further, the laws on rape – concerning definition and statute of limitation- are not in line with international law. | |
| Translation & dissemination | |
| The decision of the Human Rights Committee has not been published and translated in Nepali. |
Note these are unofficial gradings as the Human Rights Committee has not yet commented on implementation
Efforts for Implementation
- Press statement released, June 2019