31 Jestha. Around 5 pm. Manisha Saud, a ward member of Dhakari Rural Municipality-4, Achham, was found hanging in a forest 500 meters from her home. Why and how did she die? The latest facts found through the police investigation have not only revealed some of the reasons for her death, but also revealed new facts about who was involved in it.

The police investigation had surrounded Manisha inside her house two days before her suicide and taken her under control by some people from the village. They had taken videos and photos from inside the house and made them public on social media, accusing her of having an affair with a man who was with her, questioning her character. DSP Omprakash Khanal, Chief of the District Police Office, Achham, said, 'That night, it was seen that the current people's representatives, former people's representatives and leaders of the ward had reached Manisha's house.'

To what extent, the people's representatives were involved in arranging the matter at the ward office without filing a complaint with the police about the incident of entering the person's house and taking control. Initial police investigations suggest that Manisha may have committed suicide after photos, videos and discussions about the incident went viral on social media.

The day after a group of people entered the house and took photos and videos, Manisha and the man with her were summoned to the ward office for discussion. The next day, Manisha disappeared from her home. Only then did Ward No. 4 Chairman Pehalwan Thapa file a complaint at Dhakari Police Station stating that Manisha was missing. After that, Manisha's father-in-law also filed a complaint with the police requesting them to search for her daughter-in-law.  According to DSP Khanal, a police team from the District Police Office Mangalsen under the command of Police Inspector Dinesh Rimal had reached there to investigate the incident. Only after the police investigation did the matter of finding Manisha dead in the forest near her house become public.

Immediately after this, Manisha's son filed a complaint with the police, including the background before his mother's suicide. In the complaint filed by the deceased's son, Dharmaraj Saund is accused of raping Manisha and abetting her suicide by causing mental stress. Saund was taken into custody by the police on the morning of Asad 16 after the body was found. In the complaint, Ward Chairman Pehalwan Thapa is accused of abetting suicide by committing mass character assassination. The police have also taken Ward Chairman Thapa into custody. Both the accused have been remanded in custody for seven days for investigation by the District Court, Achham. After the postmortem of the body was completed at the District Hospital, Achham, the husband of the deceased, who returned from India, has taken possession of the body.

'A complaint of rape and abetment to suicide has been filed against the man named as the woman. A complaint of abetment to suicide has been filed against Ward Chairman Thapa for discussing the incident in the village, taking responsibility and committing character assassination,' DSP Khanal said, 'Nine accounts have been found that made videos of him and posted them on social media. Based on this, the investigation is moving forward.'

The deceased Manisa's uncle and former ward chairman Bhakta Budha told Kantipur what happened on the night of Jestha 12. He said that that night, Ward Chairman Pehalwan Thapa called him and said that he had been 'found red-handed' and that he was taken to Manisa's house on a motorcycle. He said, 'It was 12 midnight when I reached there. Hundreds of locals from all over the village had gathered. Some said that they should inform the police, while others said that the ward office should take responsibility for it.'

Budha said that he insisted that both of them should be handed over to the police immediately, but Ward Chairman Thapa refused. He said, "Ward Chairman Thapa said that he would take charge for seven days until the woman's husband arrives, saying that he would not let both the woman and the man escape and that he would take responsibility for the safety of the deceased." Budha said that although there was a discussion that night about preparing a written document for legal basis, the document was ultimately not prepared. He said that even though the ward chairman had said that he should make a video to preserve the evidence of taking charge, it was misused. He said, "I had set a condition that the video should not be posted on social media. Ironically, that video was leaked and character assassination was done."