Police arrested a 30-year-old man on charge of raping a 12-year-old girl in Dharan, Sunsari, on Saturday.

The Sunsari District Court on Sunday remanded him to judicial custody for investigation.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Suman Kumar Timsina, the perpetrator threatened the victim— a resident of a squatter settlement— with bodily harm and took her to Saptarangi Park where he raped her. The incident came to light after the girl shared her ordeal with her mother.

“The perpetrator who violated my daughter should be handed stern punishment,” said the girl’s mother.

The girl was taken to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences for medical tests.

According to an investigator, the suspect admitted his involvement in the crime.

Preparation is on to file rape charge against him, said police.

Protest demanding justice for Nirmala

DHANUSHA: Nepal Women’s Association staged demonstrations in Janakpur, the capital of Province 2, on Sunday to protest the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Pant in Kanchanpur. The protesters rallied around the town before handing over a memorandum to the chief district officer. Pushpalata Lama, Dhanusha district chief of the association, said they submitted the memorandum demanding the government to nab the culprits involved in Nirmala’s rape and control the unabated incidents of sexual violence in the country.