Attacks against women grow in Nepal’s ‘zero violence’ year

KATHMANDU - In addition to growing attacks on the media and businessmen, Nepal has also witnessed a sharp rise in violence against women despite the new government’s public pledge to end all violence against women in 2010, a report released ahead of International Women’s Day said.

In the first two months of 2010, there have been 54 reported incidents of violence against women, Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), Nepal’s largest human rights organisation with offices in all 75 districts, said in a report issued in Kathmandu Thursday.

These include 10 murders, 21 incidents of rape and six attacks on brides for failing to bring dowry, the report said.

“Though Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal last year declared there would be an end to all violence against women in 2010, the first two months of the year were marred by contiuing attacks,” the report said.

“There are reports of murder, rape, being ill-treated after being branded a witch, dowry-related violence, assault, mental torture, polygamy, being evicted from home, trafficking and being set on fire.”

Of the 10 murders, four victims were killed for insufficient dowry, three died after being assaulted, two were killed after being raped and one was set ablaze.

There have been also rising incidents of domestic violence and torture while being held in police custody.

In all these incidents of violence, the attackers were near relatives of the victims, their neighbours, politicians, security personnel and even media people, INSEC said.

People who went to police to file complaints were often been threatened that they too would be killed.

The NGO has urged the government to amend laws to make them more effective, especially remove the short time frame given to rape victims to register a police complaint.

In the budget tabled last year, Finance Minister Surendra Pandey had allocated funds to help victims of domestic violence in 15 districts. The NGO is asking the government to implement the promise and to extend the assistance to the remaining districts as well.

The involvement of security personnel and the tendency of their superior officers to shield them have seen some of the most shocking cases of attacks against women.

Nepal was rocked last year by the gang rape of a police woman inside a police barracks by her own peers.

However, the investigation forced by public outcry has not formally charged several of the people named as perpetrators by the victim.

Violence over dowry is rampant in Nepal’s Terai plains. So are attacks against “bokshis” - women, often old and widowed, being killed or inhumanly abused by neighbours on the suspicion they were witches who made young children fall ill.