Bill for amendment of law to punish rapists by Minister Regmi

Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Uma Regmi has pledged to take initiative to introduce a government bill in the current session to amend the law and bring the rapists to justice.

 At today's meeting of the House of Representatives, Women and Social Affairs Committee, Minister Regmi said that if this initiative was not successful, she would seek the help of all women to pressure the government. In a meeting of the committee to discuss the 'existing time limit for sexual violence / abuse', Minister Regmi said that there should be no time limit for filing a complaint on rape.

 "I have made my mind to discuss this issue today itself. The process of amending the law will move forward on the basis of the suggestions of the Ministry of Law and the concerned bodies," she said.

 According to Minister Regmi, the ministry, which represents 75% of the population, has managed to set a ceiling of Rs 1.45 billion this year out of the budget allocation of Rs 800 million.

 The ministry has demanded to make arrangements in the government's policy, program and budget to have a liaison unit in the district coordination committee as people need to come to the ministry to discuss women related issues due to removal of women's office in the district, which can be very challenging.

Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Govinda Bandi said that he had discussed with the Law Commission today what amendments could be made in the law to take action against the perpetrators of rape against women. He also told the meeting that the commission has been instructed to study the issues that need to be amended. Minister Bandi also informed that the government is committed to amend the law.

 Committee Chairperson Niru Devi Pal directed to amend the law as soon as possible by holding discussions and coordination among the stakeholders including women, law, Prime Minister's Office and the Office of the Council of Ministers. The committee has drawn the attention of the government to implement the provision of legal action against the rapist.

 In the meeting, MPs Pushpa Bhusal, Binakumari Shrestha, Bimala Vik, Anita Devkota, Vimala Rai Poudel, Pramila Kumari, Binda Pandey, Amrita Thapa, Dhruv Kumar Shahi, Laxmi Pariyar, Narayan Khatiwada, Anjana Bisankhe, Hira Gurung, Thammaya Thapal and others filed a complaint about the time limit in the rape law. 

The issue has been hotly debated on social media after the organizer of the beauty pageant of 2014 AD called her to a hotel and raped her. Stating that the victim has not been able to speak for nine years, the committee has brought out the issue after conducting a study in this regard.

 On the occasion, Home Secretary Teknarayan Pandey expressed his commitment to bring the culprit to justice.