A Case Study on Rape and Murder of Nirmala

Panta
A cold case turned grotesque crime

A case study on Nirmala Panta Case:

•Name: Benjmain Tamang
•Registration Id: 11813203
•Section: KOE74
•Roll: A22
•Subject: Gender and Public Policy
•Department: School of Information Techology (LPU)
•Program: P133 (B.Tech in Information Technology Engineering)

Submitted to:
•Name: Dr. Zainab Farhat
•Faculty: Gender and Public Policy
•ID: 24858

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 Acknowledgement

I would like to especially thank our respected and dear mentor

and teacher Dr.Zainab Farhat for granting us this hands-on assignment on
Gender and Public Policy which enabled us to garner not just theoretical
perspective on the subject, but also a really significant practical knowledge. The
project has enabled me to undergo through extensive research and assisted me to
manoeuvre through different challenges to find a viable solution to the problem.
I would like to take this opportunity to show a well-deserved gratification to our
teacher. I consider myself really privileged to be a piece of this beautiful canvas
of imparting and garnering knowledge in the guidance of our much beloved
teacher. Without her guidance and constant mentoring, I wouldn’t be able to
conquer the challenge of this practical assignment. I couldn’t express my
gratitude in words.
I would also like to thank my classmates for being a part of this
journey of learning. Without their mutual support and collaboration, this
individual assignment wouldn’t be successful as I have learned a lot from our
class discussions and interactions. It is their perseverance and sense of
responsibility towards the class that has enabled me to conquer this challenge. I
believe that this small yet impactful task has kindled a sense of responsibility,
understanding and realization in what we are learning. We were all parts of a
puzzle. Our individual assignments would not be as they are without the
understanding and friendship that we have developed in our sessions. I humbly
express my gratitude to them for bearing with one another and overcoming our
personal differences on the topics that we hold discourse upon every session.
During this entire process, I have learned a lot from them and believe that each
one of us have learnt something meaningful from each other. It would be my
privilege and an opportunity if I get to work with them in the future projects.
Special thanks to all.
Last but not least of all, I would like to express my gratitude to
all my friends and family. Although learning and gaining on a subject is rather
objective or so as it seems, me and my classmates have gained the much-needed
moral support, affection and warmness from our family and friends. Although
their contribution seems menial directly, it is the most important element that
boosted our spirits to achieve what we achieved. Thanks to all.

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 INDEX

1.Introduction................................................................................................4
2.Description.................................................................................................5-9
2.1. Faulty evidences and series of events..................................................5-6
2.2. DNA Test.............................................................................................6
2.3. Attempted cover-up.............................................................................6
2.4. Public Reaction....................................................................................7-8
2.5. Government Reaction..........................................................................8-9
3.Analysis.....................................................................................................9-10
4.Opinion......................................................................................................10-11
5.Conclusion.................................................................................................11
6.Bibliography..............................................................................................12

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1.Introduction:
On Thursday, 26 July 2018, a ninth-grade school student,
Nirmala Panta of Bhimdattanagar-2, left her home to study at her friend's (family
name: Bam). As per the report by MyRepublica, a leading daily Newspaper of
Nepal, she went to Bam's, one and a half kilometres away from her home, at
around 11 a.m., and spent three hours there. She left at around 3 p.m. but did not
reach back home. Panta's family attempted to file a missing person's complaint at
the local police station but were instructed to return the next morning. On Friday,
27 July 2018, Panta's dead body was found naked in a waterlogged sugarcane
field in Nimbukheda, Bhimdattanagar-18, about 500 metres from Bam's house.
What started as a part of daily routine any normal teenager would follow ended
up with clearly grotesque yet enigmatic crime that the country witnessed in years.

(Image: Portrait painting Of Nirmala Panta)

The inhumane crime created quite a sensation in the country.
Columns and columns of articles were written. One after other debates were held.
An ample of human rights, child rights, women rights and student organizations
held rallies and protests. Nepal’s already notorious reputation in women and child
rights created yet another buzz in the international community. The crime was
one of the rare crimes the prosecution had to face. This precarious and unfortunate
event raised a question. Does modern Nepal really preserve the sanctity of women
rights?

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2.Description:
Nirmala Panta was from Bhim Datta Municipality which
is located in Far-Western region of Nepal. She was a lower secondary level
schooler and belonged to a middle-class typical Nepali family. The incident took
place within the periphery of her home and her friend’s home. She was abducted
and raped and murdered viciously by her perpetrators. Her body was found at a
sugarcane field nearby her home the day after she went missing. The Police
discovered her body in a very disturbing condition. The series of events regarding
how the crime took place is still to be known, but the speculations were made
based on the traces of evidences left by the perpetrators. The crime unfolded a
series of events in the country. It revealed the evils in the Nepali society that
modified and survived throughout time. It uncovered the flaws in the system of
the country that seriously needed to be fixed. Moreover, it forced the common
people to question themselves. Are my daughters still safe?

2.1. Faulty evidences and series of events:

The crime was bizarre in a sense the evidences were
obvious yet led to nowhere. Samples of sperm and DNA were taken from the
victim’s body. There were witnesses as the area was quite populated. However,
despite all the evidences that could have led to the perpetrators, the case stuck in
a limbo of nothingness. Questions were raised whether there had been foul play
in the evidences as the names of powerful people were involved. The
Superintendent of Police (SP) Bista, his son and the nephew of the mayor of
Bhimdatta were embroiled in the case. With the belief that the evidences had been
tampered and the local authorities could not be trusted, the victim’s family and
the protestors demanded a central enquiry. Four days after the crime, the
government dispatched CIB led by DSP GC who arrested a local man who was
formerly convicted and served 9 years in prison. But the action was heavily
criticised as the arrest was baseless and further distortion from the case.
As the time passed, following actions were taken by the government:
• The Bam sisters, Panta's friend and her sister, were arrested on 23 August
2018.
• Hari Prasad Mainali, Director General of Department of Prison
Management, led a committee formed on 23 August 2018.
• On 17 September 2018, nine police officials were interrogated over their
involvement in the investigation of the case, which included SP Dilli Raj
Bista.

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 • On 17 September 2018, a new investigative committee was set up by the
Nepal Police under DIG (Deputy Inspector General of Police) Dhiru
Basnyat to replace the former investigation committee.
• On the same day, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli asserted that
the local police had derailed the investigation.
• On 18 September 2018, the Kanchanpur police chief SP Kuber Kathayat
admitted that there was no concrete evidence.
• The Central Investigation Bureau, in December 2018, arrested one of
Panta’s neighbours, from Kathmandu.
The series of investigation after investigation led nowhere but to the dead end.
There investigating members claimed to be threatened and blackmailed to hide
the evidences of the case.

2.2. DNA Test:

DNA test is one of the most revolutionary ideas in crime.
There was no shortage of DNA samples in the case. But in the case of Nirmala
Panta, these samples led nowhere. According to a report by the National Human
Rights Commission, there were serious lapses in DNA collection, due to which a
correct result could not be obtained. The DNA sample was collected into a test
tube from three layers of a vaginal swab. But the commission report says that the
extraction provided an insufficient sample of the DNA, which could also have
been damaged. The report also found flaws in the scientific method applied to the
DNA test. The commission recommended using methods of investigation other
than DNA testing. Another technical committee to investigate DNA led by Jiwan
Rijal also concluded that the said male component of sample taken from victim's
body might be contaminated and may not be of the perpetrator. It also questioned
the validity of the lab's report that sperm was found in the sample.

2.3. Attempted cover-up:

From the above assertions, it can be deduced that there was
obvious massive coverup campaign. Time and again family members and the
members of investigation committee were threatened by anonymous groups. The
case also happened to be embroiled with powerful names with the connection to
mayor, high-ranking police officials and politicians. Later it was confirmed that
there was distortion of evidences by the local police officials. Even the samples
of DNA were too obvious to be true and the experts pleaded guilty for disrupting
the samples. The case got much more complicated as time grew. It was going to
the direction of being classified as a cold case with justice unserved.

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2.4. Public reaction:
Even though modern times demand dedication and focus
on what we are doing in our daily lives which sometimes make us oblivious to
the things happening around us, we as humans have that essence of humanity that
is deeply embedded in us. When in desperation and segregation from our basic
human asset of justice, we tend to come together in solidarity to each other.
Especially today when so many voices are being raised for women rights and
amid rising feminism, such incidences go unnoticed when they obviously
transpire before our naked eyes.

In Nirmala Panta’s case, the public could not be

silent anymore. Centuries of transgression afterwards, women were breaking their
barriers. Amid these developments, a heinous crime as such as Nirmala’s could
no longer be oppressed. Several women organizations and students protested and
demanded the government for justice. Following series of demonstrations took
place:
• On Friday evening, 27 July 2018, the students of the Nepal Student Union
demonstrated and shut down the Bazaar area of Bhimdatta, which resulted
in a clash with security personnel.
• On Saturday, 28 July 2018, the victim's family, together with local
civilians, a women's rights organization, and sister organizations of the

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 opposition party Nepali Congress, protested the failure of police to find the
culprits and demanded security be established at the incident site. On
Saturday, the victim's family and relatives staged demonstrations at the
Mahakali Zonal Hospital, the Bazaar Area, and the municipal corporation.
• On 23 August 2018, locals in Kanchanpur staged demonstrations, shut
down the market, and burned tyres to protest the failure of police to find
the real culprits. Demonstrations had been ongoing in Bhimdatta, Bhansi,
Suda, Lalpur, Sisaiya, Daiji, Champhapur and adjacent areas since the
incident.
• On 15 September 2018, a mass rally was organized at Maitighar Mandala,
Kathmandu, with the slogan of Justice for Nirmala. The rally converged
on a corner assembly at New Baneshwor.
• On Tuesday, 18 September 2018, the Nepali Congress organized a rally at
Mahendranagar, which was joined by Panta's parents, demanding the
identification and punishment of the perpetrator of the incident. They
submitted a memorandum of demand to the Chief District Officer of
Kanchanpur, Taranath Adhikari.
• On the same day, students of the Janajyoti Multiple Campus of Sarlahi
district organized a rally at Lalbandi, Sarlahi, where hundreds of students,
civil society leaders, political leaders, and women's rights activists
demanded justice for the victim.
• On 30 October 2018, family, friends, relatives and human rights activists
led a rally in Mahendranagar demanding justice for the victim and punitive
actions against SP Dilli Raj Bista and Inspector Jagadish Prasad Bhatta.
Beside these demonstrations, there has been huge outrage in the social media
platform. #JusticeForNirmalaPanta was trending as early as this August 2020
in twitter, facebook and other social media platforms. But all these efforts have
been made futile by the system and the government. Justice still seems a long
way road even after 2 years.

2.5. Government reaction:

The government reaction has been the reaction that has been
met with scepticism and criticism from the protestors. The government’s inability
to deliver an effective resolution to the problem has been the topic of mass
protests ever since the incident took place. Promises were made and committees
were formed with no real solution and a viable strategy to convict the perpetrators.
The government reaction has been nothing but useless. This raises a serious
question in women’s rights and overall human rights in the country.

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3. Analysis:
‘Women’s rights' has always been the talk on Nation
in Nepal. The country has its own fair share of patriarchy and systematic
suppression of women. The bourgeois class has always been attributed to the
religious group of men who dictated lives of women and every other individual
in the Nepalese society. Women ever since the known history of the country have
been suppressed with traditional laws and chains. Women have been suppressed
in the form of Sati (Self-immolation by widow on the pyre of her husband),
Jhuma (Offering of daughter to monastery in Buddhism), Deuki (Offering
of daughters to temple in Hinduism in Far-Western Nepal), Chhaupadi
(Menstrual period temporary hut outside the house) etc. Moreover, they have
been suppressed by the mental barriers of society. The society’s stereotyping of
women has been monotonous with the expectation from women as a homemaker
and nothing else. Whenever a child goes disarrayed; a mother is blamed.
Something wrong happens to the husband; a wife is blamed. A family’s reputation
is desecrated; a daughter is blamed. Although the constitution ensures equality, it
has been nothing but a ludicrous irony.

Nirmala was a victim of these centuries-old oblivion

of traditions. The society of Nepal has always been an unfavourable environment
for women to thrive. The brewery of this centuries-old demented mentality is still
thriving. The Nepalese society where a son is still preferred over a daughter in
itself is a perpetrator of this crime. The rusted old traditions that so many
Nepalese still revere are in themselves part of this heinous crime. The mentality
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that favours a specific gender just because of the gender is in itself a criminal of
this crime. We have created a cobweb of complexities nurturing a system where
moral values are defined by few. Nirmala was just unlucky and unfortunate to
have been born in this mental slum. When we are having our intellectual
discourses on empowering women on our grand sets, each day hundreds of
Nirmalas are being brutally raped and murdered. They are being raped and
murdered each day mentally if not physically. The question remains, have we
really achieved the much talked about and much desired gender equality? Well,
the case of Nirmala Pantha debunked this myth of gender equality in our society.
It showed that we still have miles to go before achieving that trophy.
Nirmala was also a victim of our phony and ineffective
government legislations which became laws in paper but seldom saw the daylight.
Decades of regulations and debate in the parliament on gender rights brought
justice theoretically but never discouraged the criminal mentality in the society.
The deeply embedded gender bias and corruption in our society revealed itself in
pending justice for Nirmala. It has been more than 2 years since the incident.
Several committees were formed. Several arrests were made. Promises were
made graciously by the government. 2 years after, those promises have turned
into slanders and mockery of a little girl. As each day passes with the justice
unserved, mockery of her ill fate is being piled up. The shameful thing is that the
perpetrators are still walking freely in the society and maybe grooming their next
victim, their next Nirmala.

4.Opinion:
Nirmala Panta was a normal teenager girl with a
normal dream .i.e Education. In the country where women are still cuffed with
the shackles and manacles of traditions and superstitions, she was a beautiful
wildflower nurturing herself with the sunlight of education in the pursuit of a
better future. Born in a middle-class typical Nepali family, her parents broke the
barriers of misty and clouded traditions of binding daughters within the
compound of home. A 13-year-old teenager, she had much more to live and
contribute to the society. She could have bloomed and blessed this country with
her beautiful colours. Yet in this hedonist society where the sex-hungry demons
walk freely in human flesh, she was plucked and she was rammed to the ground
and just withered away.

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Her wings were clipped before she could fly. She couldn’t survive the brutal
hammering of society that she lived in.
Sometimes I wonder, it is entirely her fault. It is her
fault that she was a girl. It is her fault that she was born in the society which still
treat women as third-class citizens. It is her fault that she dreamt of flying. It is
her fault that she dreamt of blooming amidst the harsh environment she lived in.

5.Conclusion:
The crime was beyond inhumane. What is more inhumane
is that this little soul has still not got the justice. Her parents gave up everything
they had in the pursuit of justice for their daughter and yet everything has been in
vain. The complex bureaucratic jungle of the country has produced more case
files with no results. Nirmala is just a case, but thousands of Nirmalas still live in
constant pounding of fate. Justice still remains to be served. But until now that
justice seems just a vague dream. A cold reality of the society. Yet another cold
case filed and archived among thousands such cases. A really cold case.

6.Bibliography:
www.wikipedia.com
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www.myrepublica.com.np
www.ekantipur.com.np

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