Sudurpaschim Province
Police rearrest rape, murder suspect who had fled from custody
Rajendra Bohara, arrested for rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, was undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at Doti District Hospital when he had made a run for it on Thursday night.Basant Pratap Singh
Rajendra Bohara, the suspect arrested in connection with the rape and subsequent murder of a 12-year-old girl in Bajhang, who had fled from police custody on Thursday night has been arrested, said police.
District Police Chief SP Janak Pandey, said, “Bohara was found hiding at Fulkot of Purbachauki Rural Municipality in Doti district and was arrested on Friday morning.”
Bohora was undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Doti-based District Hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 when he had made a run for it.
The police had brought Bohora to the hospital from the Juvenile Detention Centre on November 21. He is under trial for the crime as a minor according to the date of birth mentioned at his school.
The police had launched a massive search operation for the absconding culprit, according to Pandey.
However, the police are yet to investigate the details about Bohara’s escape.
The accused had confessed to murdering the 12-year-old after raping her during police interrogation on September 30. He had told the investigating officers that he waylaid the girl who was on her way to an animal shed, dragged her to a nearby temple and committed the crime.
The victim’s body was found in the temple in Ward No. 2 of Masta Rural Municipality on September 23. She had gone to feed her cattle at a nearby shed when the incident took place. The shed is just 200 metres from the temple where the incident occurred.
Police had arrested Bohara, a local of the same rural municipality, on the charge of raping and killing the girl.
According to a police officer who took Bohara’s statement, the suspect said he had murdered the victim with a trident and a hammer since the victim had said she would disclose the incident to the villagers. During the investigation, it was revealed that Bohara had also raped another 13-year-old girl in the village two months ago.
Following the incident, the victim’s relatives had refused to receive the body unless the police made public the criminal and provided justice to the victim. They received her body on the eighth day of the crime after police made Bohara public at a press meet and the district administration agreed to provide a suitable compensation to the bereaved family.