KATHMANDU, Oct 31: Krishna Bahadur Mahara who was the Speaker of the House of Representatives currently in jail for the rape of government employee Roshani Shahi has denied undergoing a polygraph test. He said that due to his current deteriorating health he is unable to give the test.

Polygraph tests are usually given to criminals for major crimes where more critical evidence, the reasoning is sought from the accused. The test identifies whether the statements are accurate or being falsified. Mahara in his earlier statement had denied going to the place of crime the residence of the victim in Tinkune Kathmandu. This verification is now being attempted through the polygraph test.

For an individual to sit for the polygraph test he as to be aware and healthy. Since Mahara is in the hospital undergoing treatment for pressure and other ailments the Nepal Police stated that “they cannot apply pressure on Mahara to take this test due to his ill health. We would have had credible evidence had the polygraph test been allowed to happen.

Nepal Police in most gruesome criminal cases has utilized the polygraph test on the accused to ascertain facts and bring out further evidence that would help them to build up the case. The Nepalese courts similarly have allowed and supported the use of polygraph tests permitting the Police in most cases.

Forensic Report to be submitted today

Nepal Police had taken fingerprints of Mahara and will be submitting a report to the District government lawyer’s office by this evening. The report is currently classified as top secret, while the other investigative report was submitted earlier before the Tihar festival.

According to a local daily coverage Naya Patrika ( New Paper) Nepal Police had recovered glasses utilized to drink alcohol and obtained fingerprints. The Nepal Police will now match the fingerprints with the one taken from Mahara. Other items, an alcohol bottle, and Mahara’s spectacles will also be submitted as recovered evidence denoting his presence in the scene of the crime.

Case Filed

The Government lawyer’s office had prepared the case for submission to the district court which was completed today.  In cases, like these are a maximum time of 26 days is given to file a case and submit the accused to court. It has been 25 days since Mahara has been arrested from his official residence in Baluwatar.

A case has been filed against Krishna Bahadur Mahara at the district court. The court has ordered Mahara to provide his blood sample for DNA testing and instructed for 7 days further custody for the process to complete. If proven guilty, Mahara will go to jail as per the law for 7.5 years.

KATHMANDU, OCT 7: Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara was arrested from his official residence last evening by Nepal Police under the directions given by the Kathmandu District Court under Justice Brajesh Pyakurel.

Mahara was taken to the Metropolitan Police station in Singha Durbar, and investigations are ongoing. According to journalist Rishi Dhamala, Mahara was taken in his vehicle as per his request.

His first night in jail was under CCTV observation and he was kept as a regular inmate with no special considerations. The former Speaker of the House was not allowed food from outside keeping in mind the security measures taken by the Nepal Police. He was given normal food served to the other inmates.

(Former Speaker of the House Krishna Bahadur Mahara) 

The former Speaker has been allowed to meet only his immediate family members and his close office aides. According to sources he is not allowed to meet an outsider due to the sensitivity of the case.

Mahara a patient suffering from high blood sugar showed signs of ailing health, and low oxygen. He was given medical attention but refused to go to the Hospital.

Mahara was arrested after he was accused of rape by a female employee Roshani Shahi working at the Parliament Secretariat. The incident came to light after Roshani dialed the 100 hotline number informing the police regarding the incident.

Investigations will be underway, and while most of it is on the verge of completion, further probing will continue and due process of law will be followed.

(Photo: Mukunda Kalikote for Reporters Club Nepal)

KATHMANDU,Oct 6: Nepal Police have arrested Former Speaker of the House of Representatives
Krishna Bahadur Mahara this evening.

The arrest was followed right after the District Court of Kathmandu under Justice Brajesh Pyakurel issued the orders.

Mahara had resigned as the Speaker of the House of Representatives after a rape allegation by Roshani Shahi a government employee working at the Parliament Secretariat.

The Nepal Police will now begin formal investigation into the case. According to internal sources prior evidence was collected from the scene of crime.

They have completed medical tests of the victim. Police have also completed forensic examination of collected evidence. Mahara is also most likely to lose his seat in the House of Representatives following this case.

KATHMANDU, Oct 6: Former Speaker of the House of representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara will be arrested by the evening.

Mahara, who is accused of rape by Roshani Shahi, an employee, at the Parliament Secretariat will be arrested by Nepal Police following the orders from the District Court of Kathmandu.

A single bench under Justice Brajesh Pyakurel, gave the orders to the Police earlier this afternoon, in order to further investigate the rape allegation case.

The Police are now preparing to initiate action against the former Speaker of the House and arrest him by this evening.

KATHMANDU, Oct 6: Former Prime Minister and Chairman of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal summoned the Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and met him at his residence in Khumaltar.

The meeting discussed the current rape allegation case toward former Speaker of the House and senior leader of the NCP Krishna Bahadur Mahara who had tendered his resignation from the position after the matter came to light in the media and made national and international headlines.

In the meeting, it is learned that the former Prime Minister has asked the Home Minister to conduct an impartial inquiry along with a thorough investigation. In the meeting the former Prime Minister urged to “arrest Mahara if found guilty and punish him in accordance with law”.

The Chairman had also proposed in the central committee meeting to initiate action against Mahara. This meeting is seen to be extremely crucial as a formal FIR has been filed and the police are in the process of arresting the former Speaker of the House.

Similarly, the Home Minister in the meeting informed about the developments in the case, and that the police were progressing in their work. After receiving a formal complaint the police are now preparing for further action in accordance with law said the Home Minister.

KATHMANDU, Oct 5: The female employee working at the Parliament secretariat Roshani Shahi has formally filed an FIR at the Baneswor police station.

She filed an FIR against the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara for rape and abuse.

The Baneswor police will now formally act on the complaint and initiate necessary action against Krishna Bahadur Mahara and the first step will lead to his arrest. Inside sources say that it is certain that Mahara will be arrested shortly.

(Photo Courtesy: Mukunda Kalikote)

KATHMANDU, Oct 5: Addressing a letter to his former political ally former Speaker of the House of Representative Krishna Bahadur Mahara of the Nepalese Parliament, former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai who is also the Chairperson of the Samajwadi Party Nepal wrote ” the needle of suspicion point toward you, we studied back in 10th grade about ‘Paribanda’, a book written by Pushkar Sharma, in that book the innocent is proven guilty”

Releasing a letter through his social media page on Facebook at midnight the former Prime Minister is emotional yet thoughtful looking at the past that he shared with the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara who resigned amidst a rape allegation.

(Former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai’s midnight letter to the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara on his facebook page) 

In the letter, he writes about how he is surprised and emotional regarding the entire incident that came to light. He begins by narrating that the incident that came to light regarding the allegation of rape and his resignation has put to question the entire historic movement of the Maoists that not only fought for a federal, secular republic, but also for women’s liberation that they envisioned.

Former Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai further writes ” When we were leading the Maoist movement, Prachanda and I, it was Suresh Wagle and you who we determined to be ideologically sound, honest and of high moral character. We used to prioritize your advice, it was when Prachanda and I back in 1998 had our first major ideological and organizational debate. In the year 1999 in Punjab Ropad’s politburo meeting, we had listened to the advice given by the two of you and we resolved our ideological differences. It was a tragedy that right after the meeting got over on September 8, 1999, Suresh Wagle was martyred with dignity.

Later Post Bahadur Bogati and you were the beacons of the party, and the people respected your leadership. In the year 2014 with the sad demise of Bogatiji, our party went downhill, and we were in an ideological downfall which led the general public to lose faith in our movement. Congress-United Marxist Leninist was involved in prior corruption and scandalous affairs and hence your episode is no longer a personal matter but it is also a matter of Nepal’s revolutionary movement, ideology and a moral crisis that has befallen creating an image of negativity. We all have to accept this.

How did the Maoist movement reach the point of the abyss? We will analyze and synthesize them separately. Nepali revolutionary movement brought us to the summit of the federal democratic republic. We have to take pride in it, but as Rosa Luxemburg says the revolution will never remain stagnant, either it will move forward, should move forward, or it will get behind. There is another saying, to climb a mountain is easy, but to remain in there is difficult, there is yet another saying that when the revolution is over the next day the yesteryears revolutionaries would have transformed.

We failed at this very point. I climbed a summit but in order to climb another one I chose a different road, but I couldn’t convince my friends. They were only trying to remain in the summit which is scientifically not possible. Therefore, you are stuck in the summit, and your previous action is just one example of that.

I cannot state whether you are guilty or not regarding your case. You know the truth and the woman involved, but until now with the information that has been revealed the needle of suspicion point toward you”

The former Prime Minister further gives an example of a few Sanskrit lines and states that “a historic revolutionary like you are given the social responsibility of leadership, it is incompatible to be involved in sexual abuse. Even further serious is treating a woman as a commodity, and defiling her by using political power and wealth; it is a crime punishable in accordance with the law.

We have a patriarchal society and in most cases, women are the victims, but there are times when even men are the victims of various conspiracies and entrapment. In your case, if you are a victim then please bring out the truth, and seek justice in accordance with the law, and prove yourself innocent. In this case, as well we have to have an independent and impartial investigation and you have to support it. It will not lessen your reputation but increase it.

In case this crime did happen as a mistake then you have to take responsibility and come out in the open and repent for your actions, this will show that you are still a revolutionary, and for the Nation. They say mistakes that are made may not be a crime, but not rectifying mistakes is the biggest crime”

KATHMANDU, Oct 3: Chairman of the Federal Council of Samajbadi Party Nepal, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has accused Nepal Communist Party leader and former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara–who stepped down from his position on Monday following the rape allegation–of forcing Roshani Shahi to make a u-turn in his statements.

Roshani Shahi, a staffer at the Parliament Secretariat, had made a verbal complaint on Sunday evening accusing Mahara of sexually assaulting and raping her. However, Roshani later, in a dramatic turn of events, withdrew her statement saying she regretted accusing “a fatherly figure” of such hateful misconduct.

She also refused to file a case against Mahara despite “frequent requests” from the police while it also remains unclear why she suddenly changed her statement after accusing a high profile figure of sexual misconduct.

Following the incident, Roshani’s husband Chitra Jung Shahi, who was outside the valley when the incident took place, revealed on his Facebook page that he and Roshani had decided to separate.

Dr. Bhattarai said Mahara has either enticed or threatened Roshani to change her statement adding he used his power to save his face.

“A man commits adultery in pomposity of power! After the misconduct is revealed, he then wheedles/threatens the woman to make a u-turn in her statement to cover his face! And another man/husband drives her out of the house because of adultery! Until when Sita is sacrificed in the Ram-Rawan war? It this women’s liberation? It this cultural revolution?” Bhattarai wrote on twitter.

सत्ताशक्तिको धाकमा एउटा पुरूषले परस्त्रीगमन गर्ने!भेद खुलेपछि ती स्त्रीलाई नै फकएर/धम्काएर युटर्न गराउने र आफ्नो टाउको बचाउने!परपुरूषगमन गरेबापत अर्को पुरूष/लोग्नेले घरनिकाला गर्ने!यो राम-रावण द्वन्दमा सीतालाई वली चढाउने चलन कहिलेसम्म?यही हो महिलामुक्ति/सांस्कृतिक क्रान्ति,कणहरू? pic.twitter.com/grMpNQWFSc

— Baburam Bhattarai (@brb1954) October 3, 2019

KATHMANDU, Oct 2: Roshani Shahi has told the police, involved in the investigation of the Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara rape allegation incident, not to come to her apartment and torture her.

A staffer at the Parliament Secretariat, Shahi had verbally reported to the police accusing Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara of physically assaulting and raping her at her Tinkune-based apartment on Monday evening, which cost Mahara his political career.

Following the rape allegations, Speaker Mahara stepped down from the position on Tuesday “on moral grounds to facilitate a free and fair investigation into the incident” amid pressure from the Prime Minister and Nepal Communist Party Chair K P Sharma Oli and another Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

Although, Mahara publicly admitted he had gone to Shahi’s apartment but has denied any sexual misconduct saying the allegation was made to “tarnish his character”, his press advisor Dilli Malla, however, claimed that Mahara had not gone to the Shahi’s apartment.

Later in the evening, the events took a dramatic u-turn after Shahi changed her statement saying she regretted accusing the “fatherly figure” of such misconduct while also accusing the media of exaggerating the events. She also said he was in “depression” and “angry” while making a false complaint to the police.

Even though the police who had reached her apartment shortly after Shahi complained of rape asked her to lodge a complaint at the police station, she has denied filing a case.

A team of police had reached her apartment on Wednesday morning as well to further investigate the incident.

“Some police officers in the civil dress came to my apartment and started interrogating me in a forceful and mentally torturing way. I was alone in the house. When I told them I will come to the station after my husband arrives, they started searching the rooms, which was not necessary,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

“There was no necessity to mentally torture me when I have already called a press meet and informed them about the incident in detail. I want to request the police not to visit my apartment frequently and torture me and my landlord.

“It’s on to me whether to register a complaint or not. But, please stop torturing me and my landlord,” she wrote.

The police have said they have already gathered required evidence from the scene for further investigation, while also looking closely into the prior relation between Shahi and Mahara. Various media have reported that Mahara was involved in similar misconduct with Shahi in the past.

Shahi’s u-turn and denial to register a complaint are sure to affect the police investigation.

While it remains unclear why she changed her statement, a fair and independent probe into the incident also seems unlikely given political pressure since this is a high profile case–and probably resulting in the dismissal of the case before even reaching the court.