One year after the heinous killing of two teenage girls at Ghodasain in ward 8 of Dhakari Rural Municipality in Achham, the families of the victims are still waiting for justice. They complain justice remains elusive by the escape of one of the suspects from a juvenile correction centre during the Gen Z protests in early September.

Fourteen-year-old Ishara Khadka and 15-year-old Saraswati Khadka were brutally murdered in January last year. According to the District Police Office in Achham, two boys, both under 18 at the time, were detained and remanded to the Doti Juvenile Correction Centre under the Child Justice Act. However, one of them fled the facility on September 9 amid unrest linked to Gen Z protests, deepening the anguish of the victims’ families.

Police had earlier stated that preliminary investigations pointed to a failed romantic relationship, Saraswati’s rejection of sexual relations, and an attempt to conceal the crime as motives behind the killings. Although the suspects were taken into custody and remand extensions obtained from the Achham District Court, questions remain unanswered regarding possible involvement of others, forensic findings and post-mortem conclusions.

According to Raibhan Kunjeda, a court official, a hearing scheduled for Sunday was postponed after a newly transferred government attorney requested time to study the case file. “We have received information that one accused escaped from the Doti correction centre during the protests. A verdict may be possible at the next hearing,” he said.

Saraswati’s father Udayaram Khadka said the year-long delay had been unbearable. “I have been crying day and night for a year. Hearing that the killer has escaped has made it even more painful,” he said. “It has been a year and there is still no conclusion. Those who murdered my daughter and niece must face life imprisonment.” He warned that failure to deliver strict punishment could embolden similar crimes.

According to police investigations, Ishara and Saraswati had been in phone contact and meeting the two boys for nearly a year. Two days before the incident, the four agreed to meet in a forest area, where the boys went to the area as planned. It is learnt that they arrived early and waited by a stream. After meeting, they talked, shared songs and videos, and discussed their relationship. The boys asked for shawl as tokens of love; Ishara agreed but Saraswati refused, triggering an argument.

Police said the dispute escalated when Saraswati clearly refused to engage in sexual relations, insisting she would agree only after marriage. Enraged, one boy allegedly struck her on the head with a large stone, killing her instantly. The suspects then attempted to stage the scene as an accident by rolling rocks from above. When Ishara threatened to inform others, she too was assaulted and killed.

Police investigations have concluded that the incident was not a spontaneous dispute but a brutal act of violence stemming from an attempt to force sexual relations without consent. According to the police, the two girls lost their lives as a result of an inability to accept rejection, intense rage, and a deliberate effort to conceal the crime.