Police send victims to the local level and local councils back to the police. This lack of responsibility makes it increasingly difficult for women to get justice from the local councils of Province 5

-Amrita Anmol : Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal

Tak Bahadur Chhantyal of Butwal Sub-metropolitan City-8 used to thrash his wife Permala almost every day. Unable to tolerate the violence, she filed a complaint at the Area Police Office Butwal just before the Dashain festival last year. The police called the couple to their office and asked both the husband and the wife to reconcile their differences and report to the local federal government if the problem repeated.

When there was no change in Chhantyal’s behaviour, Permala filed a case in the sub-metropolis on November 1, 2007. Tired of waiting for a municipal decision, Permala said, “Since police told me to go to the local level for justice, I approached the sub-metropolis. I haven’t got justice so far.”

She shared the ordeal of having to do rounds between police and the municipal authorities. “The police office refers to the sub-metropolis and the sub-metropolis to the police,” Permala lamented. “Where ever shall I reach with these little children?”

The mother of two children under seven tolerated beating and food denial by her husband. One midnight, when he tugged her by the hair ordering her to leave, she decided to report the authorities about the excesses. “The sub-metropolis asked me to go to police if I needed ‘fast justice’; police showed me towards sub-metropolis for ‘reconciliation’ [with my husband],” the woman shared.

Since the local level came into existence last year, it has got judicial role too. Since the municipal bench has failed to convene, the victims have been denied justice. Ten months after formation of the municipal government, a judicial session is due, leading to a pile of complaints. Most of the cases are related to domestic violence that failed to be settled after discussion at the city’s Reconciliation Centre. Cases referred by ward offices after deliberation related to disputes over land, transactions and encroachment of public land are sitting idle after registration.

Butwal Sub-metropolis Deputy Mayor and Judicial Committee coordinator Gumadevi Acharya admitted that victims had been denied justice due to confusion over the judicial process. “Having political backgrounds, we don’t know matters of justice delivery,” she said. “Nor have we been trained on the process.”

So far this fiscal year, 25 complaints have been registered in the judicial committee of the Butwal Sub-metropolis. Most of them are related to domestic violence, monetary deals, relations and land disputes. The local government has decided 10 complaints through reconciliation while those required to be decided after hearing are pending.

Things are similar at Sainamaina Municipality in Rupandehi. Several women here are pursuing justice tirelessly. They feel further neglected as the local level, also called local government, has not brought them justice.

Sharada Bhattarai of Sainamaina Municipality-6 is an example. She had reached police office eight times, ward office six times and municipality office 10 times seeking justice, to no avail. “My husband and mother-in-law thrashed and sent me out of home,” said Sharada. “I visited police, ward and municipality offices repeatedly but got no justice.”

This woman has been in pursuit of justice since March 9, 2018. When she registered her complaint with the Saljhandi-based Area Police Office, she was asked to go to the ward office and reconcile her differences. Sharada said her husband Hemanta Bhattarai had been thrashing her two days since they were married last autumn.

Police Inspector Dipesh Basyal said they had referred the case to the ward office after failing to get the couple to reconcile their differences. “Right after the first complaint, we had got a verbal agreement between them not to engage in violence,” said the inspector. “Since violence repeated, we’ve sent the case to the ward office.”

Chairman of Sainamaina Municipality Ward 6 Bansanta Pande said they had tried to settle the case before taking it to the Judicial Committee since the woman was pregnant. “The woman was three months pregnant. After discussions over four days failed to reconcile their differences, the case was referred to the Judicial Committee,” said Pande. Judicial Committee coordinator at the municipality Bina Ranamagar said failure to convene the bench had caused the case to linger.

Thirty complaints have been filed in Sainamaina Municipality so far. Most of them are related to domestic violence, conflict created in couples due to foreign employment and property misappropriation. Cases not settled in mutual agreement are decided at the Judicial Committee of local governments but the task is pending. “The task is burdensome. I’ve not been able to set aside adequate time for arbitration,” said deputy chief Magar.

Since the formation of local governments, police refuse to take cases related to justice delivery saying that it is the responsibility of the Judicial Committee. Chief of the Women and Children Centre at the District Police Office Rupandehi Laxman BK also makes the case clear. “It’s easier for the local level concerned than us to bring together the culprit, victim and witnesses,” he said. “Therefore, we refer complaints of domestic violence to the local level.”

The absence of justice delivery is prevalent in all the local units of Province 5 with 4 sub-metropolitan cities, 32 municipalities and 73 rural municipalities. Judicial committees have been formed in all the 109 local units. They are also taking in complaints but the committees have not started hearing. This robs conflict victims of justice.

Butwal Sub-metropolis chief Shivaraj Subdi, who chairs the provincial union of municipalities, said the municipalities were busy drafting their working procedures. Benches can convene only after provisioning separate room and staff including the legal officer.

The problem persists in Nawalparasi too. Sita Kahar of Sukrauli in Ramgram Municipality-15, Nawalparasi West, was beaten by her husband Ram Bahadur who pressed her to “abort daughter in my womb”. Tortured almost every day, she reached the ward office on March 31. The ward referred her case to the Judicial Committee of the municipality but the latter did not take it seriously. “They asked me to go to the district police or the district court if I needed justice urgently,” said Sita.

The ordeal of Kismati Chaudhari, who knocked on the door of Narenapur Rural Municipality of Banke in search of justice, is similar. She reached the local Judicial Committee on December 1, 2017 after family members had cast her out of home. When the committee said it cannot hear her case, Chaudhari went to the Area Police Office Narenapur, which also refused to register her case. At the Banke District Police Office, her case was noted “verbally” but there was not even general discussion for a way out. Police did not deem it necessary even to summon her husband for a discussion. The woman is now staying with her parents in Khajura.

District Police Office Banke chief SP Tekbahadur Tamang said the cases were referred to the local level, court and women’s commission in the belief that justice would be more accessible from there. “Depending on the victim’s wish and need, we decide whether to take in verbal or written complaints and take the reconciliation process forward,” said SP Tamang.

Narenapur Rural Municipality chief Istiyak Ahmad Shah admitted that the local unit had failed to provide justice to those seeking it. “We are unable to set up a separate room for the Judicial Committee in the absence of resources,” he said, adding that they had not even registered complaints from victims of violence.

Powerful local level not deciding cases quickly and police brushing aside their responsibility have compelled violence-hit women to wait helplessly for justice. “By default, women hesitate to fight for justice due to the patriarchal society and their family,” said Advocate Hema Khanal of Rupandehi. “On top of that, non-performance by the responsible police and judicial committees put conflict victim women into greater trouble.”

Idle judicial committees

Article 217 of the Constitution of Nepal empowers the local level to study cases and issue verdicts on them with priority for reconciliation. Deciding civil cases and criminal cases requiring sentence up to one year, disputes over border of private and public land plots, domestic disputes, libel and defamation, and minor assaults is the local level’s area of jurisdiction.

Officials and mediators counsel victims of violence as they gather at the Dhangadhi-based reconciliation centre. Photo: Amrita Anmol

For realization of this right, judicial committees led by deputy chiefs have been formed in municipalities and rural municipalities. The Local Level Operation Act provisions closed sessions for the committees. The judicial committees have remained idle in the failure to make necessary preparations.

Judicial committees have not been functional as the local councils have yet to formulate laws. Some people’s representatives say works have not begun as they are not familiar with legal affairs. Deputy Mayor Mayadevi Poudel of Bardaghat Municipality in Nawalparasi said they were gripped by fears of getting into disputes while working without adequate knowledge. She added that the central government had not addressed their demands for training, skills and personnel.

Enough facilities do not seem to have been provisioned at the local level for convening the sessions of judicial committees. According to the federation, province and local level coordination section, offices have not been set up for the judicial committees in more than a half local units of Province 5. The problem is more acute in rural municipalities. Undersecretary Ram Prasad Dhakal at Province 5 office said local units not convening sessions of judicial committees would be managed only from next year.

A judicial committee union has been formed in Banke in response to the problems seen in using their resources and rights. Union coordinator Uma Rana, deputy mayor of Nepalgunj Sub-metropolis, said the judicial committees had not been functional since some rural municipalities lacked office for the deputy chief. “Problems in justice delivery arose in the absence of space and experience,” said Rana. “First and foremost, the judicial committees need means, resources and knowledge.”

As the committees are ineffective, most complaints reach police and court. But police return cases of domestic violence to the local level, adding to victims’ hardship. Pabitra Kumari Kohar, deputy chief of Palhinandan Municipality in Nawalparasi, said they were unable to solve problems faced by local women without formation of the bench. “In order to settle disputes, law practitioners need to be consulted and the constitution and laws referred to,” she said, adding that politicians find it hard to handle legal affairs.  

Former chairman of Butwal Bar Association Mahendra Prasad Pande said justice is more accessible in the federal structure compared to the unitary state set-up. But the local level would have to demonstrate their roles as the local government, he suggested. “Since female victims find it easier to express their problems at the local level than elsewhere, the judicial committees should launch their sessions immediately.”

Another reason for elusive justice is absence of officials informed on legal matters at the local level for regular operation of the judicial committee. There are no staff for serving dates and judicial police at the local level. Butwal Sub-metropolis Deputy Mayor Gumadevi Acharya said the judicial committee had been idle due to the staff crunch. “It’s not enough for the state to merely provision rights. It also has to make necessary human and physical recourses available for upholding the rights,” said Acharya.