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It is surprising to note that the KDC did not deem it necessary to look into other details of attempt to rape submitted by the police

After languishing in police custody and Dillibazar prison for 133 days, former speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara walked free on Monday following acquittal by the Kathmandu District Court (KDC) on charges of attempt to rape a staffer of the Parliament Secretariat. The KDC gave him the clean-chit, citing lack of sufficient evidence to prove the charge leveled against Mahara, who till his imprisonment, was a close confidante of Nepal Communist Party chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal. KDC Judge Ambar Raj Poudel took the decision to acquit him, citing that his ‘no-guilty plea’ was corroborated by the accuser, who, in her deposition, told the court that he was innocent. Earlier, the Patan High Court had told the KDC to adjudicate the case within a month. The KDC passed its verdict in favour of the accused, based mainly on the forensic report which stated it could not establish for sure that the accused had reached her room as the impression of his fingerprints on a glass of whisky and other items could not be analysed. However, the court did not take other clues uncovered at the crime scene, such as a broken frame of specs, statements recorded by his security aides, information obtained in the police control room, mobile message, bruises on the victim’s face and health check-up report as evidences to prove him guilty.

In a video interview with hamrokura.com on September 30, the victim had said Mahara visited her room on September 29 without her approval, forced her to drink whisky he had brought and thrashed her before attempting to rape her. However, she retracted her earlier statement with another online portal. She even told the court that she was forced by the police to file an FIR against Mahara on October 4. Her retraction emboldened the case in favour of Mahara. Nor did the court take any legal action against the accuser for retracting her statement. However, the Kathmandu District Government Attorney’s Office is all prepared to appeal at the High Court against the KDC ruling.

Mahara resigned as the speaker on October 1 last year, but not as lawmaker, after the ruling NCP forced him to do so. As he has come clean, he may join the House meeting anytime soon after the Parliament Secretariat received a letter from the KDC to this effect. But the question is: Does he have the morale to take a seat

Read the full story on The Himalayan Times

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