National Human Rights Commission seeks justice for victims
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RAUTAHAT, JUN 10 -
Local political leaders have tried to pressure the Rautahat district chief to pardon individuals involved in Friday night’s Dalitsettlement attack by making them sign an agreement with the victims, promising not to repeat such acts in future.
A delegation led by Nepali Congress leader Hardev Yadav reached the District Administration Office on Sunday and tried coercing Chief District Officer Dil Bahadur Ghimire into settling the matter through papers and let attackers off the hook for assaulting theDalit s at the Bhingdawar settlement in Pipariya Dostiya VDC-1.
CDO Ghimire, however, refused to comply and asked Yadav and his team to leave his office. He said the attackers will be brought to justice for committing the hate crime.
On Friday night, a group of men from the so-called upper caste had attacked the Dalit inhabitants of Bhingdawar and vandalised their homes. Fourteen people were hurt in the incident.
The attackers also broke the water tap, causing drinking water crisis in the settlement. Bhingdawar settlers are fearful they could be attacked again. Some of them fled their homes in the wake of the incident.
Superintendent of Police Gobindaram Pariyar said 12 security personnel are guarding the settlement. Meanwhile, various organisations and political parties in the district condemned the attack on Dalit s and demanded the authorities punish the perpetrators.
In Kathmandu, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) urged the government to provide relief and free medical treatment and to resettle the Dalit s of Pipariya Dostiya-8, Bhingdabar, whose settlement was crushed in an attack launched by the so-called upper castes on Friday. Condemning the aggression, the rights watchdog asked the government to carry fair investigation, charge the assailants and provide justice to the victims.
In a statement, the human rights body said the Interim Constitution has declared Nepal free of caste-based discrimination and untouchability. Caste-based Discrimination and Untouchability (Offence and Punishment) Act (2011) bans caste-based discrimination, provisioning tough punishment for those following anti-human practices.
The NHRC has gathered information from the Rautahat Chief District Officer, local security bodies and civil society members on the attacks. The commission has deployed officers from its central and regional offices to investigate the matter.
Denouncing the act, the National Dalit Liberation Front demanded that the government take legal action against the assailants and provide relief and medical treatment to the victims.
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