KATHMANDU, MAY 21
The victim is facing difficulty due to failure to have in place a prudent provision of statute of limitation
With Jenny’s (name changed) rape allegation video going viral in social networking sites, there is fear that the aspiring model might not get justice due to the one year statute of limitation provision in the existing laws.
But legal experts say the victim can get justice if the state pursues her case seriously.
Kathmandu Police today arrested proprietor of Global Visas Consultancy Manoj Pandey for the alleged violence against the aspiring model.
In a series of videos posted on the victim’s social media account, the victim claimed she was drugged and raped by an organiser of the beauty pageant multiple times in a span of six months in 2014 when she was 16 years old.
She also said the perpetrator forced her to have sex with other men in front of him.
Executive Director of Forum for Women, Law and Development Advocate Sabin Shrestha said that the statement of the victim revealed that multiple crimes were committed against her.
The perpetrator raped the aspiring model, filmed pornographic video of the victim, subjected her to forced prostitution, subjected her to extreme mental torture and committed a crime of abetment to suicide.
Shrestha said that the perpetrator’s crime against the aspiring model also fell under the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act where there is no statute of limitation.
Shrestha said that one year statute of limitation was against the directive order of the apex court and since this victim was now facing difficulties in getting justice due to the government’s failure to have in place a prudent provision of statute of limitation in rape case, a writ of mandamus could be filed at the SC seeking justice for the victim.
FWLD had filed a petition at the Supreme Court seeking to extend deadline in rape cases as the court had passed a directive order in 2008 asking the government to extend the statute of limitation keeping in mind the victims’ social psychology, their access to justice and the time required for the investigation in rape cases.
Shrestha said the Committee relating to Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women has asked the government to extend statute of limitation in rape case.
Former justice of Supreme Court Balaram KC said police and government lawyers who had the authority to prosecute the perpetrators could seek progressive interpretation of one year statute
of limitation as the victim who was a minor at the time of the incident, came forward now and the police and government attorneys could say that they have filed the case within one year from the date the victim came forward to report the crime of rape committed against her.
“A perpetrator who has committed rape against a victim may kidnap his victim and detain her against her will and cause the victim to lapse the statute of limitation.
Can the court deny justice to such a victim just because she does not report her case against her perpetrator within the stipulated deadline?” KC wondered.
KC said that rape was a crime against humanity and the state must ensure justice for the victim.
Former member of the National Human Rights Commission Advocate Mohna Ansari said there should be no limitation in rape case because the victim may not muster courage to report the incident for 10 years or even 20 years due to our societal scenario and structure of our society.
“The state has the obligation of protecting its people from crime and the crime of rape is not a minor crime,” Ansari added.
She said Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act prohibited sexual and physical exploitation of a person and since there was no statute of limitation, the victim’s perpetrator could still be prosecuted under this Act.
She further said that she would file a writ petition at the Supreme Court demanding that the current statute of limitation should not be a hindrance for the prosecutors to ensure justice for the victim.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 22, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.