Kathmandu, September 10
A woman has been sent to jail for trial after being accused of honey-trapping a senior-level government employee and extorting money from him by threatening to make their private interactions public.
The woman, identified as 32-year-old Kusum Gubhaju of Ramechhap, was remanded to custody by the Kathmandu District Court on Wednesday.
A bench of Judge Jagat Bahadur Poudel ordered that Gubhaju be sent to jail pending trial. Police subsequently took her into custody in accordance with the court order.
According to the police investigation, Gubhaju allegedly developed a close relationship with a government employee after they met through social media. The two reportedly met in person, travelled together and stayed overnight at hotels.
The employee later approached the District Police Range, Bhadra Kali, Kathmandu, claiming that Gubhaju had repeatedly demanded money and threatened to expose their private conversations, photographs and meetings if he refused to pay.
According to the complaint filed by the employee, the two had also exchanged intimate messages on social media. Gubhaju allegedly began demanding money while threatening to make their photographs and details of their meetings and overnight stays public and send them to his family members.
The complaint states that their relationship, which began through social media, progressed to meetings at a cafe in Baluwatar, outings and eventually staying together overnight. The relationship reportedly deteriorated after Gubhaju began demanding money.
“I was threatened that everything would be made public if I did not pay Rs 5 million. I was forced to pay Rs 2.7 million, but the demands for money did not stop,” the employee stated in his complaint.
The employee claimed that he paid Gubhaju Rs 2.7 million after receiving repeated threats.
According to his complaint, he transferred Rs 1 million through ConnectIPS on May 29, 2026. He allegedly made another Rs 1 million payment through two cheques issued by Rastriya Banijya Bank—Rs 750,000 and Rs 250,000—on June 2. He also claimed to have paid Rs 700,000 in cash.
The employee said he eventually went to the police after the alleged threats and demands continued despite the payments.
Police arrested Gubhaju on August 12 following his complaint. She has denied the allegations.
In her statement to police, Gubhaju claimed that the government employee himself had sent her a friend request on Facebook and proposed a relationship. She also claimed that he had arranged a room for her to stay in as his wife.
She claimed that the employee voluntarily gave her Rs 2 million, while the remaining Rs 700,000 was provided to cover expenses related to accommodation, food and living costs.
According to her statement, the two lived together in a rented room in Basundhara for around a year.
Police records also show that the dispute between the two had previously reached the police before Gubhaju’s arrest. Following a dispute on May 21, the two had reached an agreement at the Kalimati Police Circle.
At the time, both parties agreed not to interfere in each other’s affairs and were handed over to their relatives. The employee does not appear to have made any further payments to Gubhaju after that agreement, according to the case records.
Gubhaju has been charged under two separate provisions: Section 253 of the National Penal Code, 2017, which prohibits obtaining criminal benefit, and Section 47 of the Electronic Transactions Act, 2006, concerning the unlawful publication of material in electronic form.
A person convicted of obtaining criminal benefit under Section 253 can face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 30,000.
Under Section 47 of the Electronic Transactions Act, a conviction can result in a fine of up to Rs 100,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.
The allegations against Gubhaju remain subject to determination by the court.
