29 May 2020, Kathmandu
A high-level committee constituted to investigate into the Soti incident in Rukum (West) has begun its work.
The incident in Rukum West ended with the brutal killing of five people and missing of one youth.
Jajarkot Chief District Officer Janak Raj Panta said that the committee members on Friday met with the victims’ families.
The committee also reached the District Health Service Office to take stock of the state of the bodies of Sanjib BK, one of the victims in the brutal killing, of Bheri municipality-4.
The government had earlier this week formed a five-member investigation committee under the coordination of Home Ministry’s Joint Secretary Jitendra Basnet, in regard with the incident.
The committee arrived in Soti on Thursday.
Bodies of Nabaraj BK, 21, Sanju BK and Ganesh BK of Bheri municipality, Jajarkot; Lokendra Sunar of Bheri municipality-11 and Tikaram Sunar of Chaurjahari, Rukum were retrieved from different locations of the Bheri River while Govinda Shahi of Bheri municipality-11 is still missing since the incident took place on May 23.
Dalit rights activists’ association and other related organizations in the district have submitted a six-point memorandum to the Committee. They have demanded a fair investigation into the matter.
Receiving the memo, committee coordinator Basnet pledged to fulfill the government mandate and bring facts surrounding the incident through fair investigations within the given time.
According to committee coordinator Basnet, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and Forest Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet have extended their tributes to the deceased persons.
The committee comprises Senior Superintendent of Police Janak Bhattarai, National Investigation Department’s Joint Investigation Director Om Bahadur Khadka, Under -Secretaries Bashita Ghimire and Madhav Dhakal. The incident had occurred at Chaurjahari-8 in neighbuoring district Rukum (West) over the issue of inter-caste marriage.
