Nepal

Kathmandu, September 25

Govinda KC senior orthopaedic surgeon at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and medical reformer, has asked the government to take action against medical colleges that have charged extra fee from students. He has also demanded that errant colleges refund the amount to the students.

Issuing a press release today KC said, &The tuition fees and allocation of medical seats have been fixed in a scientific manner by the Mathema Committee and colleges should fix fees and allocate medical seats as per the report.& He has also demanded that medical seats allocation and counselling should be halted until the extra money of the students was refunded and the colleges were punished.

He has also demanded that the government appoint university officials as per the report submitted by the team of Parasar Koirala saying that the report mentioned guidelines on the appointment of university officials.

He also warned of fresh protest if his demands were not met. KC issued the press statement after students demanded the medical collegesto stop seat allocation and open house counseling until they returned extra fees charged from students.

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Kathmandu, September 25

The Patan High Court convicted so- called Buddhist spiritual guruRinpoche Chhulthim Dorje Yontan Yongaj Tulku Lama aka Tulku Lama of rape and slapped a jail term of seven years on him.

The court also ordered Lama to pay three million rupees as compensation to the victim described as CIB 224 in the charge sheet. This is the first time that the court had ordered the victim to pay such a huge amount of compensation to a rape victim.

The verdict was passed by a division bench of judges Tek Narayan Kunwar and Ramesh Bahadur Thapa.

Patan High Court struck down Kathmandu District Court31 August 2018 verdict that acquitted Tulku Lama of rape charges. The defendant, who is in his late 50s held the victim hostage for more than nine years at a monastery operated by him in Chalnakhel, Dakshinkali Municipality-10 and raped her repeatedly, the court observed. According to case files, the convict took thepictures of his sexual assault and threatened the victim of putting those pictures on facebook if she lodged complaint against him.

Given the sufferings faced by rape victims, no monetary compensation can adequately compensate the victims, the court added. According to the charge sheet, Lama used to molest and rape his followers, saying his divine powers could cure all kinds of illnesses. Lama, who originally hails from Kuesheshwor Dumja-9 of Sindhuli, had been operating the monastery for the past 10 years. The monastery housed several women and his followers came to him with various problems in the hope that ‘his divine powers& could give them a respite.

Rejecting Lamaclaim that the victim was his wife, the court said Lama had already been married and despite his claim of marrying the victim, he did not have marriage certificate or anything that could establish marital relations between him and the victim.

&How can the defendant, who claims to be the reincarnation of Guru Rinpoche, tie the marital knot? The court cannot accept the argument that the victim who is27 years junior to the defendant could not find her match and accepted the defendant as her husband,& the court observed. The court said as per new laws even husband cannot have sexual relations with his spouse without her consent.

The court said defendant committed rape as he coerced the victim to have physical relations with him, saying she was his wife in their past lives and she should remain his wife in this life also. &Whether somebody has physical relations with a woman without her consent for one time or for years, that is a crime of rape,& the court said, adding, &In a rape case, the victim should be treated as a key witness and her statement should be considered direct and decisive evidence.&

The court has also quoted the conviction of Indian Gurus Asharam Bapu and Gurmit Ram Rahim. The court also mentioned one of the Dalai Lamaspeeches delivered in Netherlands recently where he said he had been aware for last 25 years that women were being sexually exploited by some Buddhist Gurus. The victim who started living in the monastery since May 2009 stayed there for almost 10 years.

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Kathmandu, September 25

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police has accused six persons, including a land revenue officer and three lawyers, of allegedly forging deeds and transferring ownership of 92 ropani government land to an individual.

According to CIB, it filed multiple charges against six defendants at Kathmandu District Court through the office of the District Attorney after completion of investigation at the order of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.

Those indicted for forgery and organised crimes were Mina Kumari Thapa, 50, and Ram Kumar Suyal Thapa, 41, of Dhading; Ram Bahadur Shah, 46, of Kailali; Shiva Prasad Rimal, 55, of Kathmandu; Baburam Sharma Regmi, 46, of Gorkha and Yogendra Pokharel, 46, of Okhaldhunga.

Superintendent of Police Bel Bahadur Pandey, who is also the CIB spokesperson, said the racket forged a land ownership certificate of 92 ropanis government land locatedin Bandbhanjyang Village Development Committee (now Chandragiri Municipality-2), Kathmandu by projecting Mina Kumari as its owner.

Shah, Sharma and Pokharel, who were law practitioners in Kathmandu, produced fake documents by posing Meena Kumari as the landowner. Subsequently, they forged a deed ‘signed between Mina Kumari and Ram Kumar to sell the land to the latter.&

For this purpose, Ram Kumar acted as the director of ‘Suyal Housing Company&.

The CIB informed that chief of Kalanki-based Land Revenue Office, Shiva Prasad, colluded with the racketeers to issue land ownership certificate to the company on the basis of the ‘deed signed between Mina Kumari and Ram Kumar&. After the it was registered in the name of the company, they sold two ropanies land to various persons.

SP Pandey said lawyer Ram Bahadur was the mastermind of the organised crime which caused a huge loss to the government.

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Kathmandu, September 25

The National Human Rights Commission is going to organise an international conference on ‘Protection of Rights of Migrant Workers& in Kathmandu from November 12-14.

According to the NHRC, the conference aims to highlight human rights of migrant workers and focuses on the issues and challenges in origin,transit and destination countries.

&Migration is a regular process at global level. As this is a transnational issue, effective administration and management of migrant worker requires efforts of two or more countries. Therefore, the origin, transit and destination countries need to stand united and exchange necessary cooperation for capacity development, empowerment and protection of rights of migrant workers,& the NHRC Chairperson Anup Raj Sharma said at a meeting today.

Issues of migration have been gaining more attention throughout the world. The Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was adopted at the Intergovernmental Conference on Migration in Morocco in December last year. It marks enhanced cooperation on international migration in all its dimensions and reiterates the human rights of all migrants. It sets out 23 objectives for safe, orderly and regular migration, each of which include commitments and suggested follow-up actions for member states. Though it is not legally binding, concerned governments are responsible for ensuring that their policies and practices are consistent which the objectives of the Global Compact.

It also aims to commit the member states to work towards alternatives to migration detention, provide access to basic services and social cohesion. According to the NHRC, protection of rights of the migrant workers is a current global issue which has emerged as an interest and priority to all the states. Large number of migrant workers from Nepal and South Asia proceed each day as economic migrants to other countries. Considering this tendency, fair and responsible recruitment practices, protecting rights of the migrant workers, family rights of the migrant workers and access to justice has become all the more important.

The three-day conference will have different thematic sessions. Papers presented by national and international experts will be discussed. After three days of extensive discussions and constructive inputs & as an outcome, ‘Kathmandu Declaration& announced. Action plan will be prepared to implement the declaration.

The conference is expected to bring together experts and representatives of government and non-government organisations and rights bodies. Representation from as many as 20 counties and participation of chiefs of 10 human rights bodies have already been confirmed.

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