Custody of former Speaker of the House extended by 5 days: Police record Mahara’s statement

KATHMANDU, Oct 20: Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara will be in custody for further 5 days as directed by the district court of Kathmandu. Justice Babu Ram Subedi gave the orders yesterday at a hearing.

Prior to this, the Nepal Police had taken 13 days of extended custody of Mahara in the rape allegation case of a female employee Roshani Shahi working for the Parliament Secretariat, while the investigations are ongoing.

The Nepal Police had requested for further 7 days of custody but the court under Justice Subedi ordered for 5 days to complete the investigation. The former Speaker has been in custody, but due to health reasons, he was shifted to Norvic hospital for treatment. An FIR was filed by the victim on the 5th of October, and the police had arrested him the following day.

During the interrogation, it is said that the former Speaker has revealed of sharing a relationship of family ties with the victim. In the 7 hours long interrogation Mahara also said that he was in the scene of the crime as against stating earlier that he was not present. The Police had confirmed CCTV footage as evidence of Mahara being present in the area during the night the incident took place. His statements come after refusing to provide any statement citing health reasons earlier on.