Twenty-six days after the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta in Bhimdutta Municipality-18, Kanchanpur, police have arrested the alleged perpetrator, a 41-year-old man with a criminal past.

Dilip Singh Bista, a resident of Khanna Chauraha area in Bhimdutta Municipality-19, was apprehended near the scene of crime on Sunday. The District Police Office, Kanchanpur, paraded him before the press on Monday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Gyan Bahadur Sethi said Bista admitted to his crime and that preparations were being made to file a case against him.

“Bista already had a criminal history. He had murdered his brother-in-law for which he served nine years sentence. After getting released from the prison, he did not change himself. He used to threaten the family of his murdered brother-in-law. The man was violent and prone to criminality,” DSP Sethi said.

The district police could appeal the court to hand down maximum jail sentence to Bista for committing a heinous crime that caused a nationwide uproar.

The body of Nirmala was found in a sugarcane field on July 27, a day after she was reported missing.

Autopsy report showed that the teenager had been raped and strangulated to death.

Friends, family members and the residents of Bhimdutta Municipality staged a protest in the wake of the incident, demanding that the perpetrator is brought to justice.

The case soon drew national attention. The authorities faced heavy criticism for failing to catch the criminal and forcing the girl’s family into cremating her.   

7 held on rape charge

CHITWAN: Police have arrested seven persons for their alleged involvement in two separate incidents of gang-rape in Chitwan district. Five persons were detained on charge of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl in Bharatpur on August 15. The suspects are the residents of Bharatpur and Gaidakot of neighbouring Napalparasi district. Similarly, police arrested two persons from Madi for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl on August 16.