Protests held over rape, murder of three-year-old Garima

KATHMANDU: Locals have taken to the streets in different parts of the country to protest the rape and murder of three-year-old Garima Chaudhary of Jeetpur Simara Sub-Metropolitan City-1 of Bara.

Protests were held in Kathmandu, Birgunj, and Kakarbhitta, among other places, on Friday.

In Kathmandu, the Independent Mothers of Nepal organized a protest at Maitighar Mandala. The protesters chanted slogans demanding strict action against those responsible. They also took out a rally from Maitighar Mandala to the Kathmandu District Court in Babarmahal.

Similarly, school students staged a protest in Birgunj to demand severe punishment for those involved. They demonstrated and chanted slogans in front of the District Administration Office in Parsa.

In Kakarbhitta, Jhapa, a protest rally organized by the Janachetana Women’s Center passed through the Kakarbhitta market. The rally included representatives of various organizations and students from Mechinagar Municipality. Participants chanted slogans such as “Stop murder and violence,” “We will no longer tolerate injustice,” “Hang the rapists,” and “Justice for Garima.” The rally concluded with a corner meeting. Janachetana Center Coordinator Radha Pradhan Karki and local students addressed the meeting.

Garima went missing at around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. She had recently enrolled in the playgroup at Saraswati Basic School in Jeetpur Simara-2. Police found her body on Tuesday evening, wrapped in clothes and dumped inside an abandoned house about 200 meters from her home.

Police brought a team with a sniffer dog to the crime scene, which sniffed out 16-year-old Suman Thapa, who was present at the scene with the police. Thapa worked as a helper in a small passenger vehicle owned by 24-year-old Progress Chaudhary and had been accompanying police during their search for those involved in the incident. Even after the girl’s body was found, he was walking around the crime scene alongside police, asking, “Who killed her?”

Upon being identified by the sniffer dog, police immediately took Thapa into custody. Police say he has since confessed to raping and murdering the girl.

Police have also arrested Chaudhary on suspicion of involvement in the murder.