Jaisedeval's daughter Maharjan, who was walking to her friend's house, has been missing for 14 years. From time to time, a 'trend' continues on social media searching for her, 'Is that right, daughter?'
What you should know
On 16 Falgun 2068, 51-year-old Chorimaiya Maharjan informed her family that she was coming to bring her belongings from Baneshwor. Chorimaiya left on Shyamkaji Shrestha's motorcycle, who had arrived at the house in the morning. Shrestha stated that he had left her in Teku, where she was doing her sewing business at her home in Jaisedeval.
Later, at around 9:15 pm, the daughter called her daughter Sudha and told her that she would come to her friend Nikki (Suraksha Singh)'s house in Baneshwor. 'You had said, "Are you an aunty or not? Please explain," says Sudha. 'She was a close friend of my mother, I had called and asked her.' Sudha says that Nikki replied in a hurry at that time and said that she would call the daughter herself.
The daughter did not know how to use her mobile phone properly, so she asked her to contact the house and ask. She always went out like that and returned by 12 pm. When her mother did not come, Sudha called her, but she did not pick up. After trying many times, she picked up once, but there was no sound. In fact, there was a problem with the mobile phone because she had dropped the phone two days ago. They thought it was normal. Around 8 pm, a message suddenly came from the daughter's number. It read, 'I am in Manakamana, I will come tomorrow.'
The family is suspicious about how the daughter, who does not know how to use a mobile phone properly, wrote that message. The family suspects that someone sent that message when the mobile phone display was broken at that time. The police do not seem to have taken out the IMEI number of the mobile phone that received the message. At that time, the technology to view it had already arrived. The investigating officers did not pay attention to it at first, but later Nepal Telecom replied that it did not have any details as it had been a long time.
The family waited for the daughter, but there was no news. According to the statement given to the police by the daughter's husband Shivakrishna by Nikki, Nikki kept changing her words. 'She said, 'It will come in a day or two, don't inform the police,' the complaint states. 'Earlier, instead of taking a large amount of money without doing any paperwork and returning it, she used to avoid it and argue repeatedly using various excuses.' In her statement to the police, Nikki said that Sudha's sister called her in the afternoon and that she had not heard from the daughter yet.
‘Your sister also called and said she was coming to my house, then I told her she hadn’t come yet,’ she said in her statement, ‘At around 8 pm, Sudha called me crying, saying that mommy hasn’t come yet, where has she gone.’ She mentioned that at that time, she reminded Sudha, ‘My sister-in-law also left home a few years ago, but was found only 3 days later and was found in the police hospital after an accident.’ She said that she tried to understand by calling various hospitals and that she would also understand.
Sudha did not stop calling Nikki for a few days. At that time, Nikki used to tell her, ‘Why should we panic, you will come the day after tomorrow’. However, as the days passed, her daughter did not return. They filed a complaint with the Police Division, Public Service. The next day, they filed a complaint with the District Police Complex, Kathmandu. Later, the family tried to file a complaint against Nikki. Initially, the police refused to register it. Later, after daily protests began demanding action against those involved in the incident and a search for Chorimaiya, the police filed a complaint. According to the investigation officers, the complaint was not filed initially because sufficient evidence had not been found. However, after Nikki's investigation was diverted elsewhere, she was taken into custody on April 21, 2069.
Chorimaiya's relatives lived near her home in Jaisedeval. She had met Nikki while living there. According to the police, she also helped her sell the clothes she made. Nikki worked as a treasure hunter, and sometimes Chorimaiya would also lend her money. According to the family, Chorimaiya's diary mentioned that she had given her a loan of Rs 5 million.
Chorimaiya's husband Shivakrishna had accumulated Rs 4.3 million when he retired from Nepal Rastra Bank. The Maharjan family claims that he gave Nikki Rs 5 million, including the Rs 7 million he had saved from his business. They claim that he did not return the money even after much pleading. She left home while the process of demanding the return was underway and did not return after reaching Baneshwor to meet Nikki. Nikki, however, has come claiming that she has only Rs 500,000 to return.
After taking Nikki into custody, the police searched her house. The police also searched the house of Nikki's father-in-law Tribhuvan Man Singh in Godargaun, Rabindranath Nagar. But the police did not find anything. Later, based on circumstantial evidence, the details of the daughter's location in Baneshwor, and the complaint, a case of kidnapping and physical restraint was registered on 21 Baisakh 2069. Singh, who was released on bail at that time, was later acquitted by the District Court, Kathmandu on 19 Jestha 2071. An appeal was also filed against that order in the Patan High Court. However, the district's order was upheld.
‘The charge of heinous criminal offenses like kidnapping and hostage-taking must be supported by credible and credible evidence and the offense must be established without any doubt or suspicion,’ the order states. ‘Even though the case reached Teku, the prosecution has not been able to establish with certainty whether Chorimaiya reached the defendant’s house, did not reach it, who sent the SMS saying that she had come on the same day, or with whom she had reached there.’
The court said that while it is unfortunate that a woman has disappeared from the capital and her condition is still unknown, no conclusion could be drawn as the investigation focused on the suspicion of organized crime and crimes like physical hostage-taking. Even the Supreme Court has acquitted suspect Nikki, but Chorimaiya’s family has not received justice.
Some investigation officers say that there was a weakness in the technical investigation of the police at that time, while others say that the investigation should continue in this case. Chorimaiya is still missing. From time to time, there are 'trends' searching for her on social media, 'Khai Chorimaiya?', 'Justice for Chorimaiya Maharjan'.
