Pradip Rawal, who was arrested in connection with the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant, was released on Wednesday. The District Administration Office, Kathmandu, this afternoon issued an order to release him on general date.

After his release, Rawal said that he was tortured terribly in the custody.

During interrogation at the custody of Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police, Rawal said that he was beaten up with polythene pipe on bare foot. He said he was tortured both physically and mentally a day after his arrest, Rawal said.

Chaudhary, a permanent resident of Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur, was released from police custody following the order of District Administration Office after a forensic test found no match between the DNA samples taken from Rawal with that of the vaginal swab taken from the Kanchanpur rape and murder victim.

He was arrested from Sundhara of Kathmandu on November 29.

Following the arrest, Rawal, who used to work at a Momo eatery, was kept at the Central Investigation Bureau and later shifted to the Metropolitan Police Circle, Maharajgunj.

He told the media that he had confessed to the crime because he was tortured in custody. “I confessed the crime out of fear as I was tortured terribly,” he said.

Soon after Rawal was arrested, Inspector General of Nepal Police Sarbendra Khanal had reached the CIB to interrogate him.

He said that IGP Khanal had piled pressure on him to speak the truth about the incident. He had even said that the jail term would also be reduced if he spoke the truth.

Bishal Chaudhary, who was arrested along with Rawal, released from police custody on December 23 after he was cleared by DNA evidence. His release comes at a time when police have been insisting that Bishal and the other suspect, Pradip Rawal, have confessed to raping and murdering 13-year-old Nirmala in Bhimdattanagar, Kanchanpur, on July 26.

The teenage girl from Bhimdutta Municipality-2, Kanchanpur, was found murdered in a sugarcane field on July 27, a day after she went missing. Forensic report has proved the 13-year-old girl was murdered after rape.

Though the government had formed separate investigation team of Home Ministry, Nepal Police headquarters, Central Investigation Bureau and District Police Office, the culprits behind the incident have not been booked yet.

Earlier on October 26, the Home Ministry sacked suspended Kanchanpur police chief SP Dilliraj Bista and Inspector Jagadish Prasad Bhatta from service with immediate effect for mishandling initial probe into the July rape and murder of Nirmala Pant.

Read: Twist in Nirmala rape & murder case as details of the arrest of two new suspects don't add up