The Rupandehi District Court has remanded in custody three people allegedly involved in the murder of a 13-year-old Dalit girl a month ago.
The single bench of Judge Krishna Prasad Paudel on Thursday issued the order to remand in custody the prime accused Birendra Bhar, his mother Akali Devi and aunt Shitali over the murder of Angira Pasi from Devdaha Municipality-11.
The court issued the order following preliminary hearings in the case. According to Ganga Adhikari, an information officer at the court, 19 advocates argued on behalf of the victim and the defendants.
Pasi was found hanging from a tree on May 23 near her home. The accused, Birendra Bhar, a neighbour from a so-called upper caste family, had allegedly raped the teenager the previous night. A village assembly, which included local people’s representatives, decided to resolve the incident by marrying off Pasi with Bhar.
Bhar’s mother and aunt had publicly said that they would not accept Pasi as their daughter-in-law, and did not let her enter the house as she was a Dalit.
Police had initially refused to register a murder case against the suspects. Following pressure from the locals and Dalit rights activists, police finally registered the case three days after the incident and arrested the accused for investigaton. Police had registered a charge sheet against the trio on June 21 and presented the suspects before the court on Tuesday.
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