WUNRN
TRAGIC MURDER OF NEPAL WOMEN'S
RIGHTS DEFENDER LAXMI BOHARA
In June of 2008, Laxmi Bohara died,
allegedly due to a severe beating by her husband and because of poison she was
forced to take by her husband and mother-in-law.
|
Laxmi Bohara Women's |
Laxmi
was a member of the National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders in
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http://www.fidh.org/spip.php?article5646
16 June 2008
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, is a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH
Assassination of Ms.
Laxmi Bohara - Nepal
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the assassination
of Ms. Laxmi Bohara, 28 years old, a health volunteer and an active women’s
rights activist engaged in advocating for health rights of women, Secretary of
the Women’s Empowerment Centre and a member of the Women Human Rights Defender
Network in Kanchanpur, after being beaten and physically injured by her husband
and mother in law.
Brief description of the situation:
According to the information received, on June 6, 2008, Ms. Laxmi
Bohara was severely beaten and then forced to take poison, before being rushed
to the hospital by her husband, Mr. Tek Raj Bohara. She passed away while
being treated at the hospital. Blue marks and severe bruises were present all
over her body. After the news of her death, Ms. Bohara’s husband fled from the
hospital.
In the past, Ms. Bohara had been severely criticised and harassed
by her husband and mother in law for committing herself to social work,
suspicious if she talked with anyone on the road, having been submitted to
sexual baiting, and regularly beaten up by her husband who even threatened to
throw her out of the house. Thus, ten days before her death, Ms. Bohara had
been thrown out of the house by her husband, before going back to her husband
after he promise he would not beat her up again.
Ms. Laxmi Bohara’s father subsequently submitted a First Hand
Information (FIR) to the District Police Office (DPO), accusing his daughter’s
husband and mother-in-law to have murdered her. The police informed him that
his case was registered under number 224. However, it was later found out that
the FIR registered by Ms. Bohara’s father was actually not in his name but was
registered by Mr. Tek Raj Bohra’s family.
Furthermore, as a part of the Hindu culture, the dead has to be
cremated by a man of the family and follow 13 days of mourning period. Since
the religion demands that a “man” has to follow such “holy” procedures, the
police informed the family members that the FIR had to be registered after 13
days in order to enable the husband to perform the “ritual”. Hence the husband
was freed after having signed an agreement paper according to which he would
present himself at the police station after 13 days. Ms. Bohara’s body was then
cremated.
The post mortem examination of Ms. Bohara’s body was conducted by
Dr. Khagendra Bhatta, a cousin of Mr. Tek Raj Bohara, who submitted a
report that clearly states that Ms. Bohara died of poison and there were
presence of minor bruises.
Furthermore, when members of the Women Human Rights Defender
Network in Kanchanpur went to meet with Mr. Kisan Chand, District
Superintendent of Police (DSP), the latter was aggressive and he said that he
was not scared of anyone and “even if the women’s movement took their protest
to the streets, it would not make any difference to anyone”. Since, such
threats and harassment have become common against members of the Women Human
Rights Defender Network in Kanchanpur. On June 7, 2008, Mr. Kisan Chand
even ordered his sub-officers to throw the women out of his office.
On June 10 and 11, 2008, Ms. Laxmi Bohara’s father went to the
police station to register the FIR, but he was told that without any legal and
strong evidence, the FIR could not be registered.
The Observatory expresses its deep concern regarding Ms. Laxmi
Bohara’s assassination, and urges the Nepalese authorities to order a thorough
and impartial investigation into her assassination in order to identify all
those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal
and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law.
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