Even though rape and sexual abuse victims win cases in court, they are still outcasted by society depriving them of Justice.

-Amrita Anmol: Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal

Almost one year ago in July 2017, a troubled 12-year-old girl filed a report at the Area Police Office, Butwal against her father alleging him of instigating ‘domestic squabble’ within the family. Soon, her revelation that her father had repeatedly raped her flabbergasted the police.

Divulging details of crime, this girl of Devinagar of Rupandehi said she has been a victim of rape for the last six months. Upon collecting details, when the police asked her mother to file a case against her husband, she denied. Finally, the police initiated investigation and send him to jail after her maternal grand-mother filed a case of evidence.

However, since the family prohibited her from joining them, she, with the support of the police, took refuge in one of her aunt’s house. “The family thinks that she is guilty,” says Jyoti Kunwar, chief police constable at the women and children cell, Area Police Office, Butwal, adding that the girl has not been to her home since then.

Displacement of the victim

This girl represents scores of girls, who have become the victims of rape from their relatives. Another 12-year-old girl, too, faced a similar nightmare when her father raped her. However, her mother supported her to provide justice by sending the father to jail.

The story does not end here. Accusing this girl of indicting her father of rape, family members and relatives barred her from entering their houses. Her helpless mother then sent her to Nepalgunj to work as a maid with the fear of the family being displaced from the village. “My daughter has been victimized,” her mother, Goma says, adding, “I couldn’t do anything for her.”

Likewise, a 14-year-old girl was raped by her friend’s father in Saljhandi of Rupanedhi in 2069 BS. Even though the police arrested him, she faced wrath from her relatives and neighbors when they threatened to displace the family if she were not evicted from the house.

The pressure was so immense that the family members took her to the Women Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) in Butwal. However, the society and her relatives did not accept her when she returned home after five months. Tired of all this, her parents then sent her to Kathmandu where she started to work as a house maid. “I occasionally talk to my mother over the phone,” she says in a wobbling voice. “But I can’t go to my village.”

Likewise, a 13-year-old girl of Motipur, Rupandehi, was raped by her neighbor and was pregnant in 2068 BS. The rapist was put behind bars. However, she was forced to move to Butwal for failing to withstand the society’s pressure. After spending the first six months at a rehabilitation center in Butwal, she came to Kathmandu and aborted her seven-month old fetus.

No sooner she returned to her village, her family had to move to Butwal since their neighbors threatened them of life. Her widowed-mother works in a hotel to raise her three children. “Going back to village seems to be a distant dream,” she sighs.

These are a few instances of heart-rending stories. According to Laxman BK, sub-inspector of police at the Women and Children’s Cell, Rupandehi, there are instances of several families being displaced for failing to endure the pressure of the society. He says, “The irony is that the society too holds the victims responsible for the act.”

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old girl of Nepalgunj, a victim of gang rape on 16^th June, 2016, has the same ordeal. Imagine the situation when she was gang raped by six people while on a trip to Lumbini with her friends. The police apprehended the rapists when her friend, who escaped the rape, reported the incident to the Butwal police. Unfortunately, boycotted by the society, she ended up working in a hotel in Butwal.

“Instead of showing pity on me, they accused me of making a mistake,” the dejected lass complained. “Did I have any choice to leave the house when the society threatened me of dire consequences if I stayed with my family?” she queried.

Most of the victims are offended by their family members, their relatives and the neighbors, police say. They go to such an extent that they even coerce and intimidate the victims to settle the case or even try to alter the witnesses’ statements. Sub-inspector of police at the Women and Children’s cell, Rupandehi, BK says, “This is why victims face displacement.”

Human right defender, Namrata Pokhrel says, “The victims are often displaced because of the society’s mentality that women are always wrong.”

The family of a 22-year-old lady of Sunwal, Nawalparasi, who became a gang rape victim in April 2012, was displaced from their village. The court’s verdict came in her favor with a 10-year jail term for the rapists and a compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs to the victim. Despite this, she has not been able to go back home. The consequence: her family had to sell their property and move elsewhere.

The police do not have the exact data of rape victims. Sharada Basyal, chief of the Women and Children’s Office, Rupandehi says most of the rape victims in the district have been displaced. “While several of them are residing in Maiti Nepal, some are living with their relatives.”

Spokesperson of the Rupendehi police, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dilli Narayan Pandey says, “In case of any hassles in the process of the case, we keep them at the safe homes in the district. But we remain uninformed about their condition after that.”

Chairperson of Kadam Nepal, an organization sheltering and supporting victims of rape and domestic violence, Indira Acharya says, “The society’s tendency to observe the physical changes in a girl has been one of the reasons of rape cases.”

Complicated Rehabilitation

Even as the courts have adopted a ‘fast-track’ approach to decide cases of rape, it usually takes three months to give verdict. There have been instances of verdict in favor of the victims. However, they have been deprived of compensation since several of the indicted people move the higher courts. Meanwhile, several rape victims are skeptical about getting the compensation even if the accused have no rooms for appeal.

Chandrakant Chapagain, officer at the Butwal-based sub-regional branch of the National Human Rights Commission says, “The victims do not usually claim the compensation with the fear that their identities would be revealed.”

As a matter of fact, nobody has taken any initiatives to rehabilitate or provide compensation to the victims. Advocate Hema Khanal says, “This is why victims are displaced.” The Rupandehi Distirct Court has in the last seven years have given its verdict to 310 cases of rape and sexual violence. Ironically, only one girl, raped by Shiva Pujan Yadav of Bogadi, Rupandehi, got the compensation.

Police involved in investigation of such cases say since children and teenagers are easily lured and tempted, and do not understand sexual gestures, they are at high risk of being victimized easily. “Girls, not attending the schools and who are not accustomed to the outside world, are at high risk,” opines Rima BC, district representative of INSEC. “Moreover, parents try to conceal the cases with the fear of being boycotted from the society. They fear that their daughters will not get married,” she adds.

The District Government Attorney’s Office, Rupandehi, had decided to file lawsuits against 24 cases of rapes, and 15 cases of attempt to rape in the fiscal year 2015-2016. Government officials say the data could be higher since several such cases are covered up.

According to the Office of the Attorney General, around one thousand 89 cases of rape, and 452 cases of rape attempts were registered with the office in the fiscal year 2015-16. Experts have to say that the social structure and the mental anomalies in persons have been one of the reasons for such cases.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Jiwan Kumar Poudel says people have been so irresponsible that they do not even mull over future implications of their behavior. Majority of the rape victims undergo a deceptive mentality. Dr. Shreedhar Acharya of Lumbini Zonal Hospital, Butwal, said cases of rape will have a long-term impact on the girls, whose reproduction parts are not fully grown.

Likewise, Professor of Sociology, Narayan Panta, said it is high time that social leaders initiated campaigns to rehabilitate the victim’s families, and to displace the indicted ones. He opined that while the accused should be boycotted in the society, the victims should be honored by supporting the victim’s family in all terms, including financial backing.

Demanding action against rape offenders for abusing domestic house workers, students of Sadhana Women College protesting in front of police office area, Butwal on 26th June 2017. Photo: Amrita Anmol

There has been a tendency in the society of relating rape cases with the girl’s character. Psychotherapist Kamala Gahatraj says, “The problem persists until and unless the victim and her family are counseled to bring about positive consequences.” Tulsa Sharma, an educator, says, “Such incidences will definitely decrease if people dislike and boycott the indicted, and accept the victims.”

The National Judicial Academy had in 2070 carried out a study on “Victim Women’s Access to Judiciary and Social Rehabilitation”. According to advocate Raju Chapagain , who is also the coordinator of the team, since most of the indicted are either relatives or known ones, they continue to torture the victims and their families. “Hence, either they try to dismiss the case, threaten or even coerce the victim’s side making it difficult for social rehabilitation.”