Police are investigating an alleged rape of a 22-year-old woman that occurred inside a moving truck on Sunday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Ghanshyam Shrestha, chief of the Metropolitan Police Office in Thankot, Kathmandu, said they have arrested the suspect, Krishna Murma Satar of Gaurigunj Rural Municipality, Jhapa, based on the complaint filed by the woman, a resident of Chandragiri Municipality, Kathmandu.

In her police statement, the woman has accused 25-year-old Satar of raping her while hitiching a ride to Kathmandu from Dhading in a truck on Sunday. 

Satar, the truck helper, had reportedly raped the woman inside the moving vehicle unbeknownst to the driver.

Both Satar and the truck driver were arrested on Sunday itself after the woman reported the incident to the police mobilised on the highway.

“The driver was later released after the woman said that he was not involved in the case. Meanwhile, Satar is being held in custody pending investigation,” Shrestha told the Post on Tuesday.   

In another incident, police in Jhapa district has arrested a man for allegedly raping a nine-year-old girl in Bhadrapur Municipality-1.

The accused has been identified as Paras Sawa.

While the crime rate during the lockdown has slumped across the country, police say there have been some incidents of rape in different districts. 

Nepal Police recorded at least 40 rape cases across the country since March 26. At least 198 rape incidents were reported in the preceding one month period, the police data show.

Similarly, around 700 criminal cases were recorded since the lockdown, a period of little over two weeks. Nearly 4,000 criminal cases were recorded between mid-February and mid-March.

The crime rate inside the Kathmandu Valley has also dropped significantly during the lockdown. 

A majority of the crimes that occurred in the Valley were petty in nature, police said.

Since the lockdown, police have recorded 180 cases of murder, 198 of suicide and 69 caes of rape across the country, and a majority of them occurred outside the Valley.

“Most of the cases have taken place in rural areas, where the presence of security personnel is low and the lockdown orders are not enforced as strictly as in the cities,” Senior Superintendent of Police Umesh Raj Joshi, spokesperson for the Nepal Police, told the Post.