A girl is raped in Chaugoth, the leader is active in hiding the incident

DSP Pathak said that during the counseling at the One Door Crisis Management Center (OCMC) in the District Hospital, the girl was raped by her uncle when she went out to urinate at 2 am. "Initially, she was taken to Mangalsen district hospital saying that she was fainting, but after she regained consciousness, it came out that she had been raped," he said.

After the girl came to Hos and told everything about the incident, the police team reached the spot for further investigation. DSP Pathak, who reached there, explained the nature of the incident and said, "Corn plants have also been broken outside the camp." Some color is also visible.' A police officer assigned to the investigation said that after the local leader tried to hide the incident, the victim girl had to be carried from the district hospital to the scene of the incident.

The victim girl was taken to the district hospital in an unconscious state around 12:30 on Tuesday afternoon. Ganga Budha Magar, information officer of District Hospital Achham, said that the victim regained consciousness only 3 hours after being brought to the hospital. She said, "In our estimation, the girl has been unconscious for about 12 hours. According to him, the girl was not able to speak for a long time after she was diagnosed in the emergency ward.

The girl who was raped in Chaugoth is being taken to District Hospital Mangalsen in an unconscious state. Photo Courtesy: Ambika ran

Only after taking her to OCMC for counselling, she explained the incident in detail. According to an employee of the hospital, the girl, who is related to her maternal uncle, attacked and raped her and heard the voices of two other people who were nearby at that time, but she said that she could not identify it.

Ambika Chanene, the city head of Panchdeval Vinayak Municipality, who is aware of the incident, said that the girl was found unconscious in the neighborhood after she did not wake up until late in the morning, but no one from the village came close. She said that when she was preparing to hold a meeting of the executive committee at 10 o'clock on Tuesday morning, she was informed by a villager that a teenage girl had fainted in the neighborhood.

On Monday evening, she went to her neighbor's house to celebrate her birthday. Everyone had fun dancing. Perhaps she got her period after returning from there and went to the cowshed. This may have happened to him at that time. By the time I reached the spot, she was unconscious in the area.'' She said that even when they reached the spot, the locals remained silent as if they didn't know anything. She said, "When asked about what happened, all the women, men and elders of the village used to faint earlier." He replied that it was a disease.' The city chief said that after the girl was sent to the district hospital, the encampment was demolished on Tuesday in the presence of public representatives, police and locals.

The police called the grandmother and her daughter of the girl, who were studying at her uncle's house, and questioned them about the incident. But even at that time they said that it was a disease. The number of people who die while living in the slums, rape and other sexual violence, suffocation or snake bites are high here. Even earlier, 14 women and girls have lost their lives in Chaugoth due to rape, suffocation, and snake bites.

Four years ago, after 20-year-old Pavarti Budha Rawat of Achham Sanfebagar Municipality-3 Siddheshwar died of suffocation in the slum, more than 10 thousand slums were demolished in Achham on the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs. At that time, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a circular to 19 districts of Far West and Karnali Provinces asking them to end the Chhaupadi malpractice. In the circular of the house, there was an instruction, 'Destroy the encampment, create public awareness and take legal action against the perpetrators.'

When the police tried to file a case saying that Parvati was forced to stay in the neighborhood in that incident, the family did not cooperate. A case was registered based on the police report after no complaint was filed by the family members. And, the brother-in-law was sentenced to 45 days imprisonment by the Achham District Court for forcing him to live in the village. In this case, the law was attracted for the first time, which provides 3 months imprisonment and a fine of 3 thousand for those who live in close quarters.

According to the ministry's circular, the District Police Office Achham had launched a campaign to demolish slums in each village of the district's 91 wards. With the involvement of local people's representatives, police and locals, more than 10,000 sheds were demolished in Achham. But such a campaign has been stopped again. Since 2063, only 14 women and girls have died in Achham. According to the orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the police have demolished 7 thousand 454 camps from 075/76 to 077/78.