Ruby Khan was arrested by the police while on a sit-in demanding the implementation of the agreements reached by the state five times before. She was released three days later, but the hunger strike continues.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
It had only been three days since Rubi Khan's group staged a sit-in in front of the District Administration Office demanding justice in the suspicious death of Nirmala Kurmi from Banke, when armed police suddenly arrived at 5 pm. They arrested Khan and six other activists and started putting them in a van. Khan and others tried to resist but could not.
They were initially taken to the District Police Office, Banke, where discussions were underway to detain them all. Khan, claiming to be the leader of the movement, requested that if they were to be detained, only she be kept.
About an hour later, the five were released after being given a document not to participate in the demonstration again. Rubi was handed an 'urgent arrest warrant' at the police office. This warrant is a privilege granted to the police by the National Criminal Code, 2074, which can be issued by the investigating officer in cases where the accused may flee immediately or destroy evidence. But the police used it to detain Khan, who was protesting for justice, for ‘offending public peace’.
Regarding her request to release others except her on the day she was taken into police custody on April 15, Khan told Kantipur, ‘Some sisters were sick, some children had their 12th grade exams. That’s why I requested them to be released.’
Khan, who has been raising her voice against injustices faced by others since her student days, could not remain silent when she was taken into police custody. She began a hunger strike to death in police custody.
‘I have become weak due to being on the streets for a long time, the next day at around 8 pm it became very difficult,’ Khan said, ‘The police took me to Bheri Hospital.’ As soon as the doctor came to know that she was on a hunger strike at the police office, he gave her ‘sline’ for strength. She became even more exhausted.
After a while, another doctor came and gave her more medicine. ‘As soon as I was given medicine, I refused to stay in that hospital, and then I got treated at Sanjeevani Medical College while under police control,’ she added, ‘But, I did not eat anything in the hospital either, my hunger strike continued.’
The police took Khan to Banke Chief District Officer Dil Kumar Tamang to extend the time limit. Tamang was the same government official who had signed agreements with Khan twice in Kathmandu as a member of the government negotiation team. In particular, the government had already reached an agreement with Khan five times during the demonstration for justice for Nirmala Kurmi. When the agreement was not implemented, she would come to the streets, and the agreement would be signed.
Khan believed that he would get justice if he took her to the Chief District Officer Tamang, who was aware of her demands, to extend her time limit. But with the consent of the same Pradya Tamang, she was handed over the document of ‘Thunuwa No. 35’.
‘We have been on the streets for so long, you were the first to promise to provide justice,’ she reminded Pradya Tamang. But he responded, ‘Will you always protest as Nirmala Kurmi?’.
The Women’s Rights Forum also filed a petition in the District Court, Banke against Khan’s arrest. The court ordered Khan to be produced.
‘There were two government holidays, I was supposed to appear on 20th Baisakh,’ she told Kantipur. ‘After realizing that it would be a disgrace if I left the court, they released me on bail that same evening.’
District Police Office Banke Chief SP Angur GC, however, accuses Khan of bringing forward Nirmala Kurmi’s case to avoid custody and influence his own case. ‘Ruby Khan’s interest in Nirmala Kurmi is just a show of affection, she brought this case to seek legal redress for herself,’ she told Kantipur.
Khan, however, has not given up her agitation. ‘How can I get tired of not getting justice?’ she asks from her hospital bed.
According to the report of the government study committee, after the death of Nirmala Kurmi's husband Mahlu Kurmi of the then Paraspur VDC-9 in Banke in 2062 BS, there were many attempts to grab their 4 bighas and 10 kattas of land. In 2066 BS, the sons Ram Sagar and Suresh also died mysteriously 10 days apart.
'After the death of the sons, the land title deeds and citizenship of the house and land in the names of father Mahlu and eldest son Ram Sagar were taken away by the local Badshah Kurmi,' the conclusion section (B.3 and 4) of the report of the investigation committee led by Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Hiralal Regmi states, 'People from Badshah Kurmi and others had strongly protested, staged sit-ins, etc., alleging that the land title deeds were taken away to grab Nirmala's house and land.' Congress leader Kurmi, who is also a former member of the parliament, is currently a member of the provincial assembly.
In a video shot by the Human Rights Forum, Banke in 2066 BS, Nirmala Kurmi said that she was beaten up by Badshah and others ‘for property’. ‘Badshah slapped her, others hit her with a bicycle chain,’ she said while showing the wounds on her leg, ‘and then they took the death certificates of her husband and sons and other documents.’
The report states that ‘Badshah Kurmi, along with Kuwar Babban Singh, Dhirendra Singh, Ammarlal Kurmi, Indian citizen Munim Kurmi and others, forcibly took away documents from the widow and single woman Kurmi with the intention of taking her property.’ The report states that Badshah and others threatened to not give Nirmala any of her documents or even let her stay in the house.
The report also said that Badshah’s role in the incident was suspicious. After the protest, the administration immediately showed interest in the matter. After the chaos, the king reached the District Administration Office and returned the documents and apologized.
Some time after the documents were returned, Nirmala suddenly disappeared. No written application was received from any body including the police for a search. Instead, rights activists started raising their voices for an investigation.
According to an investigation officer of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), which investigated the case, the land grabbing of Nirmala began after her disappearance. ‘It seems that the land in the name of her husband and eldest son was first transferred on 8 Ashad 2069.’ After that, it seems that the land that was blocked for some time was transferred and started being grabbed again,’ he said. ‘The detailed investigation report of that is with the police.’
The investigation officer said that when he went to India after the incident, he found that Nirmala had married there and had already died. The police have even shown pictures of the wedding, but activists including Ruby Khan are not ready to accept it.
Khan had repeatedly protested since 2078 BS for justice for Nirmala and the innocent washerwoman from Banke who lost her life in domestic violence. After the hearing was not held at Singha Durbar while she was protesting in Nepalgunj, she and other activists came to Kathmandu on foot in Asoj 2078 BS. As soon as she arrived in Kathmandu, the police arrested Khan on charges of polygamy and took her to Nepalgunj on 23 Asoj 2078 BS.
‘The police started the conspiracy against me from there,’ says Khan, ‘I had a family problem, and they pressured me to withdraw from the protest by trapping me in a divorce case.’ Later, the Supreme Court, hearing the writ petition for habeas corpus, ordered her release.
According to Khan, at that time the police threatened to file another case against her if she did not withdraw the protest. In response, she said, "It is not my fault, I will do whatever I want." Even when she was arrested this time, she repeated her same stance. And, she has been on a hunger strike in her hospital bed for 18 days, demanding justice. Her main demand now is, "The police and the government prosecutor's office, who are delaying even after the investigation is complete, should take the case to court soon and justice should be served from there."
