A female trainee at the Karnali Province Police Training Centre on October 14 lodged a complaint saying Sub-Inspector Bam Bahadur Rana attempted to rape her in his room inside the training centre.

Rana was arrested the same day, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Shiva Singh, spokesperson for the District Police Office, Banke.

In her complaint, according to the police office, the trainee said Rana called her to his room on the pretext of letting her use his mobile phone to call her parents. When she entered the room, Rana locked the door and made inappropriate advances, according to her.

As per the rules, trainees are not allowed to keep mobile phones with them during the training period.

The accused is the accuser’s brother-in-law, said Singh. According to Singh, more details will be unveiled after the investigation is completed.

“The family of the accuser is not convinced that such an incident took place, but we have already launched an investigation,” Singh told the Post.

“The victim has filed an attempt to rape complaint and investigation is ongoing as per the complaint,” said Singh. The court is set to start the proceedings.

According to DSP Madhusudhan Neupane from the Police Training Centre, the woman is still coming to training despite being subjected to such behaviour. “She comes to the training in tears, and has refused to meet or talk to anyone, including her relatives,” said Neupane.

This incident is the first attempt to rape case relating to a police official, and it comes amid concerns over the high prevalence of cases that show sexual assaults against women in the country, particularly by men in power.