Urge to put pressure on the Nepalese army to make them responsible for the killing of Maina
Mother Devi of Maina Sunuwar, who was killed by security personnel during the armed conflict, has written a letter to the United Nations demanding justice. In a letter written to the United Nations Peacekeeping Office, she asked them to put pressure on the Nepalese army to make them responsible for Maina's murder.
Monday marks 21 years since Maina's murder. On her daughter's memorial day, Devi wrote a letter to UN Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lecroix, who is handling the peacekeeping mission, on Monday. It is mentioned in the letter he wrote that he asked the United Nations for justice and accountability.
2060 On February 5, 15-year-old Maina was tortured and killed by the officers of Birendra Shanti Sainik Training Center in Panchkhal. Maina was arrested from his home by a military team under the leadership of then chief soldier Bobby Khatri and taken to Panchkhal training center.
According to the United Nations human rights report on Maina's murder, a team of 7 soldiers on Khatri's orders detained her in a room with handcuffs and blindfolds after an hour and a half of torture. While being detained, she vomited and expelled white foam from her mouth. Despite this, it is mentioned in the report that Maina died while in custody due to neglect in her treatment.
Devi said in the letter that despite fighting against her daughter's murder, she did not get justice, because the Nepali army protected the officer responsible for the incident, and the UN needs help to hold the army accountable. "I have heard that the Nepali Army is still trying to make the Panchkhal training center a regional training center for Asia and the Pacific Ocean region with the United Nations," she wrote, "I oppose this, and request that Panchkhaal not be allowed to be established as a regional training center until justice and the entire judicial process for the murder of her daughter are completed." Although she demanded that a memorial should be built in her daughter's memory, she revealed in the letter that it cannot be accepted until certain conditions are met.
Kavre district court sentenced three army officers along with Khatri to life imprisonment in 2074 Baisakh, judging them to be involved in Maina's murder. Judge Medini Prasad Paudyal sentenced Khatri and fellow soldiers Amit Pun and Sunil Adhikari to 20 years in prison. Khatri and others were court martialed and sentenced to 6 months in jail, saying that the principle of double jeopardy would be applied to prosecute him and put him in jail. On August 23, 2074, the Army filed a petition (petition to be filed with a claim that a judgment should be annulled) in the Supreme Court to annul the decision of the District Court.
The decision of the district court has not been implemented due to the petition currently under consideration in the Supreme Court. Devi's first condition is that the three military officers, including Khatri, who were found guilty by the district court, should be arrested and the verdict implemented.
According to the international human rights law, crimes against civilians cannot be solved by the action of the military court, so Devi argues that the decision of the district court must be followed. For that, he has another condition that the army should withdraw the vacancy request. She has also written in the letter that if these two conditions are fulfilled, she will accept the proposal put forward by the army to build a memorial for her daughter.
