The Kathmandu District Court on Monday convicted Judge Bhuwan Giri of rape.

A single bench of Judge Durga Bhusal found Giri guilty of the charges levelled against him. His punishments will be determined in the next court hearing scheduled for June 10, said Ramu Sharma, registrar at the district court.

The district court had earlier released him on bail and later the high court had upheld the same order.

On April 3 last year, a division bench of Supreme Court justices Hari Prasad Phuyal and Til Prasad Shrestha invalidated the rulings of Kathmandu District Court and Patan High Court and ordered that Giri be sent to judicial custody.

The Kapilvastu District Court then issued an arrest warrant against the former Judge who was taken into police custody from Pabitranagar in Gongabu, Kathmandu on April 11, 2023 and sent to Bhairahawa for further investigation.

Giri’s wife Aarati Rawal had started a fast-unto-death claiming that no action had been taken despite the apex court’s order following which Giri surrendered to the Kathmandu District Court on April 15, 2024.

Giri’s wife accused her husband of domestic violence and sexual exploitation.

Giri, who was assigned to serve as district judge at the Kapilvastu District Court last June, was transferred to the Judicial Council in Kathmandu a month ago.

In November last year, Giri’s wife had lodged a complaint at the District Police Office, but the police refused to register her complaint. Soon after that Giri had also filed a complaint against his wife at the District Police Office accusing her of stealing money.

Following the police’s refusal to register her complaint, Giri’s wife went to Kathmandu and spoke to various media outlets. On February 15, Giri’s wife staged a demonstration outside the federal parliament building at New Baneshwar. She and two other women were arrested for protesting.

She had filed a complaint at the National Human Rights Commission and the National Women’s Commission, seeking action against her husband. She also filed another complaint at the Judicial Council.

She is Giri’s second wife. He had been staying with her after legally separating from his first wife.