Siraha rape incident: Accused absconding, 4 suspects arrested
23 February 2025 – Siraha – All the accused in the rape and suspicious death case of 17-year-old Rinku Kumari Sada of Bhagawatipur, Nawarajpur Rural Municipality-1, Siraha, are absconding. Police have taken four suspects into custody.
The police had received a supplementary complaint from the victim’s family on Thursday against eight people, including three involved in the rape and five who tried to settle the incident in the village by organizing a panchayat.
Three teams from Madhesh Province Police Office Janakpur, District Police Siraha and Area Police Lahan are searching for them, said SSP Shantiraj Koirala, coordinator of the incident investigation team. He said that work is underway to take other suspects and people close to the accused into custody and interrogate them.
According to SSP Koirala, 4 people are under control so far. He informed that there is a person close to the accused who played the role of a panchayat to fix the incident. ‘We are taking the suspect under control, interrogating him and collecting factual evidence,’ Koirala said. According to him, the provincial, district and area police are focused on arresting the main accused. He said that the post-mortem and forensic reports will also be coming soon, so the investigation will be carried out based on that evidence.
On the night of Magh 12, Rinku Kumari, who had gone out to defecate, was abducted and gang-raped by Rupesh Mandal, Chandan Sah, and Ram Binay Mandal of the village. However, instead of sending the victim to the police, ward members Nathuni Sah, Rampukar Mandal, Ramprit Sah, Ramkripal Mandal, Bindeshwar and others formed a panchayat to resolve the incident within the village.
The Panchayat held in the village hall on Magh 29 and 30 had decided to collect a fine of 140,000 from the perpetrator and not allow the victim to go to the police. However, there was a dispute among the relatives of the accused in the Panchayat regarding the payment of the money. After that, the girl was found hanging in her own house on the evening of the 30th.
Although the victim’s family filed a complaint against four people for rape and dereliction of duty, the police at the Lahan Area Police Station refused to file a complaint and filed a complaint against Rupesh for abetment to suicide. After this matter came to the media, the police have filed a supplementary complaint against the victim’s family for four crimes including dereliction of duty, rape, physical restraint and settlement of transaction. In which, three people have been named for gang rape and five for trying to settle the matter in the village through a panchayat.
