Eight years have passed since the murder of Nirmala Pant, but the police investigation has yet to reach a conclusion, and the victim's family is still waiting for justice.
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Exactly eight years have passed since the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant in Nimbukheda, Kanchanpur. As in previous years, on the anniversary of the incident, Nirmala’s mother, Durgadevi Pant, receives a flood of phone calls from journalists and social media influencers. Everyone asks the same questions in the same style: “Do you still have hope for justice?”, “When do you think justice will be served?”, “Do you still remember your daughter?” and so on. Durgadevi has no answers to these and similar questions. She said, “What is left for me to say now?”
Even so, from time to time, hope does arise in her heart. When journalists bring new updates and ask questions, she wonders if something might finally happen. For example, four months ago, the Police Headquarters formed a 15-member investigation committee under the leadership of SSP Krishna Pangeni, who is with the Bureau of Human Trafficking Investigation.
Recently, various videos related to the Nirmala Pant case have started circulating again on social media. Some people have given interviews, speculating about the incident. But such things only increase Durgadevi’s distress. “They haven’t been able to find the perpetrator in eight years. All we want is for the real culprit to be found,” Durgadevi said. “It hurts us when old videos are shown on the news and Facebook. Please, don’t show those old videos anymore.”
She learned about the latest police investigation team through Facebook and the news. But she has not received any concrete information about it so far. Nor has anyone come to her. “You don’t even need to come here, just find the perpetrator,” she said. “Whoever committed the crime should be put in jail.”
These days, Durgadevi wishes no one would bring up the subject with her. She does not like to talk about it with anyone, whether journalists who come to her home or other people. Every year, as the 10th of Saun approaches, she feels the same anxiety again. She said she is tired of the same questions that have been repeated for eight years. Eight years spent facing such questions and hoping for justice, and in between, the struggles she has endured are not few.
On the 10th of Saun, 2075, 13-year-old Nirmala, who had gone to a friend’s house to study, was found dead the next day in a sugarcane field near Nimbukheda, Bhimdatta Municipality-18. Police investigations revealed that she had been raped and then murdered. Protests demanding justice for her began immediately after the incident.
On the 25th day after the incident, when police publicly named Dilip Singh Bista of Ultakham, Bhimdatta Municipality-2, as the perpetrator, the protests intensified even further. After that, Shani Khuna of Bhimdatta Municipality-18 was killed by police gunfire. Both protesters and police were injured. The police released Bista on the 25th day.
At that time, the Ministry of Home Affairs formed a high-level team to investigate the incident, and both the police and the National Human Rights Commission also formed separate investigation committees. Along with the team formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Human Rights Commission and the committee led by then-AIG Dhiru Basnyat also concluded that there had been negligence in the investigation. For this reason, then-SP Dilli Bista and eight other police officers were suspended. Cases were also filed against them in the District Court for destroying evidence and for torture during the investigation. They were acquitted by the court.
This case is considered the one with the highest number of police investigation committees formed and the most financial resources spent. Not only that, DNA tests were conducted on more than 100 people, and more than 1,000 people have been questioned in the investigation. This process is still ongoing.
Most recently, the Police Headquarters formed a 15-member investigation committee under the leadership of SSP Krishna Pangeni, who is with the Bureau of Human Trafficking Investigation. The investigation team has been working on the case since last Chaitra, reviewing the work of previous committees. However, SSP Pangeni declined to comment on the matter. “We are not saying anything about this right now,” he said.
This has become the main question asked at every meeting and press conference at the District Police Office. At the press conference organized on Wednesday to present the annual activities of the previous fiscal year, journalists again repeated the question: “What is happening with the investigation into the Nirmala case?”
Responding to the journalists’ questions, SP Netrmani Giri said that the department and the district have given the Nirmala case top priority. He said that although it may appear that the police have done nothing, the Nirmala case is being treated with special priority. “The nation itself is treating this case as the most important, and our department is also looking at it very seriously,” SP Giri said. “A special team has also been formed by the CIB, and that team is working in its own way.” He said that work is being done to study the files of previous investigations as well as other related matters.
“We are not just sitting idly by; we are trying to see if something can be done, if we can reach some conclusion,” SP Giri said. “It’s not that nothing has happened so far; the department is treating it with the same importance, and we are working accordingly.” He said that there is ongoing coordination with the special CIB team formed for the latest investigation. He said the team is in contact for gathering necessary information and other tasks. SP Giri also requested that if any members of the public have information, they should provide it confidentially.
