Kathmandu, June 8
Minister for Women, Children, and Senior Citizens, Parbat Gurung, has refused to speak about the notorious Nirmala Pant rape and murder case.
While Gurung was responding to lawmakers’ queries about the budget allocated to the ministry for the next fiscal year, Nepali Congress leader Uma Regmi presented a supplementary question asking the minister to explain what the ministry did to solve the mystery about the two-year-old murder.
Responding to her, the minister said, “I think this is not the issue that I should respond to. This is not the issue today. This question is being asked in the House constantly, [but] I am not here to respond to this question.”
In another context, Gurung refused the argument that cases of domestic violence and violence against women increased during the lockdown. “Violence exists there since the past,” he said, “But, the ministry is cautious of recent newspaper reports about the increase.”
