A group of 14 people, including 11 women, who arrived in Kathmandu from Nepalgunj on Wednesday seeking justice, have begun their protest at Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu.

Their demand is a fair investigation into the death of Nakunni Dhobi and the disappearance of Nirmala Kurmi.

The group of local residents of Banke district in Lumbini Province had marched to the Capital, on foot—walking over 500 kilometres, after being denied justice by the local authorities in their home district.

Thirty-eight-year-old Nakunni was found dead under suspicious circumstances at her home on July 20 in Ward 2 of Janaki Rural Municipality in Banke.

Fifty-two-year-old Nirmala had gone missing in January 2010 from the same rural municipality. Her disappearance had come two years after her two teenage sons were murdered within the span of one week. Neighbours and villagers say Nirmala owned a great deal of property, making her disappearance and the murder of her two sons suspicious. But police never took the case of her disappearance seriously.

When local residents and activists pressured the local police to investigate Nirmala’s disappearance, the District Police Office, Banke on December 1 last year turned them away citing no point in investigating the matter as Nirmala was already dead.

When the relatives and neighbours of Nakunni and Nirmala tried to lodge complaints with the district police with the support of the Banke chapter of the National Women Rights Forum in August this year, police once again refused to investigate the cases.

On Friday, the group, who seemed exhausted due to their arduous journey, arrived at the protest site at around 11am holding banners and placards demanding justice.

Here are some photos by Post’s photographer Angad Dhakal.