Kathmandu: Police have arrested Niharika Rajput while she was set to stage another round of hunger strike after the government failed to enforce an agreement reached with her in June. She was arrested from Singha Durbar’s premises.
Rajput, a single mother from Jaleshwar Municipality 9 Mahottari, has been staging a series of hunger strikes for the past few months demanding justice for herself and her young son. She had ended her earlier hunger strike after inking a five-point deal with the government.
Rajput had previously accused Shivaraj Shrestha from Janakpur of drugging and sexually assaulting her when she was 17 years of age, which made her a minor at the time. She became pregnant soon after and gave birth to a son as a result of the assault.
Her five-point demands were the investigation and arrest of her accused rapist Shivaraj Shrestha and a DNA test to prove her son’s parentage, a prompt investigation by the high court on the case she filed five months ago, a re-investigation into the entire case as well as an assurance of the care and safety of her 21 months old son.
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