In February, a widow Dhegnidevi Mahato of Bagauda VDC, burnt to death by her relatives on the charge of practising withcraft. Nine months after the incident, on November 11, the body of Indra Kumari Mahato, a local, was recovered in the same area. [break]The body was found hidden under a pile of straw just 100 meters from the place where Dhegnidevi was killed.
Police said they are investigating into Indra Kumari´s death but they suspect murder. Preliminary investigation by police shows Indra Kumari and her husband were in dispute with the locals over debts. Police have also detained a person in connection with Indra Kumari´s death. DSP Arun Poudel of District Police Office, Chitwan, said post mortem has been done and they have sent the samples for viscera tests.
Police said they recorded yet another murder involving a 22 year old woman in August near Bagauda VDC. Police have arrested Narayan Pariyar on the charge of killing his wife Sarita Pariyar. Initially Narayan told police that she died after falling off a ladder but later he confessed to killing his wife.
Meanwhile, Apsara Pandey, a member Gardi Women´s Political Network, said yet another woman was killed in Gardi VDC in the district before Sarita´s murder.
"Barely three years since the murder of Shova Nepali in Gardi VDC, three women have been killed in Bagauda,” said Pandey, adding, "Despite our campaigning for violence against women, brutality and killings have not stopped."
Pandey said cases of molestation of girls have also increased in Madi area in the district. Records at the district police showed three cases related to child molestation
According to Chitwan District Police Office, they have found four girl child molestation cases -- three in Bagauda VDC and one in nearby Kalyanpur VDC, within a span of four months earlier this year.
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