Police arrested a 53-year-old man in ward 1 of Raskot Municipality, Kalikot, for the alleged rape of a 13-year-old relative. The victim is currently six weeks pregnant following repeated sexual assaults.

The victim frequently visited the suspect’s house to study mathematics with his daughter. With the suspect’s wife away in Kathmandu, he reportedly groomed the girl with small sums of money. The perpetrator first raped the minor on January 27. “He told me he felt lonely when I did not visit. That night, around 10 pm, he forced himself on me. He covered my mouth when I tried to scream,” said the victim.

The suspect allegedly gave her Rs500 to buy silence. “He said he would kill me if I told anyone, but would love me if I stayed quiet,” she added. The suspect, according to the victim, assaulted her again.

Deputy Superintendent Him Bahadur Khatri, chief of the District Police Office in Kalikot, confirmed the arrest was made on 10 March after a formal complaint was lodged. “It appears he exploited her presence at his home to commit the crime,” said Khatri. He noted a discrepancy in official documents: “While birth records state she is 10, her physical appearance suggests she is closer to 13-14.”

The victim’s vulnerability was exacerbated by her family situation. Her father is working in Bangalore, India, and her mother has remarried elsewhere. The child currently lives with her elderly grandmother. Inspector Ganesh Gyawali, the investigating officer, said that the accused confessed the crime. “He clearly took advantage of a child in a high-risk situation,” said Gyawali.

Various news reports have highlighted a disturbing trend in the Karnali region, where children of migrant workers remain highly vulnerable to sexual violence due to lack of parental supervision.

The victim is currently being housed at the One-stop Crisis Management Centre (OCMC) in Manma, the district headquarters. “She is receiving medical treatment, counselling, and legal aid,” said Durga Shahi, a senior counsellor at the OCMC. Shahi confirmed the pregnancy is approximately one and a half months along.

The district court has remanded the 53-year-old suspect into police custody for 12 days for investigation. The girl’s aunt discovered the pregnancy after noticing she had missed her period in February.

In Birendranagar, the provincial headquarters of Karnali, 16-year-old Inisa BK died due to violent and forced sexual intercourse. Inisa, originally from ward 6 of Badakholi in Gurbhakot Municipality but residing in Birendranagar Municipality-1 for her education, was found unconscious and bleeding in the Janajagaran Community Forest on March 7. Despite being rushed to the provincial hospital by local residents and police officers, she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

The post-mortem report has confirmed that the girl’s death was the direct result of fatal internal and external haemorrhage caused by violent and forced sexual intercourse.