Advocacy Forum demands justice to Nirmala Panta

Advocacy Forum (AF)-Nepal has expressed its concern over the impunity in the Nirmala Panta case.

The brutal rape and murder case of Nirmala Pant of Kanchanpur is yet to be resolved even though five years have elapsed since the incident happened.

Issuing a press statement today, the AF said, “The State fails to deliver justice to the victim.”

The AF demands an impartial, independent and immediate investigation into the case and punishment of the perpetrators as per the law and asserts that failing to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators will further entrench impunity in the country.

“AF stands together with family members, human rights defenders and lawyers involved in the case who have been continuously demanding truth and justice in the case,” the statement reads.

Nirmala went missing around 2:00 pm on July 26, 2018, from the house of her friend where she had gone citing to do school homework.

The following morning her dead body was found in a sugarcane field not far from her home.

The AF has reminded that the National Human Rights Commission conducted an investigation into the case and in January 2019 submitted a report to the government with four-point recommendations and 24-point directives to the government, all of which remain to be implemented.