20-fold increase of rape cases in 25 years in Nepal
KATHMANDU: The incidents of murder and murder after rape have increased drastically in the recent times. According to statistics, 17 women were murdered after rape in the past four years. Nepal Police spokesperson SP Basanta Bahadur Kunwar said that more cases of murder after rape are being reported to police in Province 1. He further said that five women were killed after they were raped in the past four years.
Similarly, the data shows that four women in Province 2, four in Far-West, two in Gandaki and two in Bagmati were raped and murdered in the same period. 11 women were murdered after being rape in the Fiscal Year 2075/76 which was the highest in the past four years.
17,000 rape cases, 5,000 attempted rape cases reported in the past 25 years
Nepal Police headquarters said that 17,000 cases of rape and 5,000 attempted cases were reported to the police in the past 25 years.
According to statistics, 16,986 cases of rape and 5,000 cases of attempted rape were reported to the police from the Fiscal Year 2053/54 to Fiscal Year 2077/78.
The statistics shows that the cases of rape have been increasing every year. Women, Children and Senior Citizen Service Center of Nepal Police said that the rape cases have increased by 20 fold in the past 25 years.
Spokesperson Kunwar said, “Only 112 cases of rape and 34 cases of attempted rape were reported in the country 25 years ago.” He further said that 2,144 cases of rape and 687 cases of attempted rape were reported in the previous Fiscal Year 2076/077.
Police attribute the increase in rape cases to more victims coming forward to lodge complaint against rape.
Police said that 2,230 cases of rape and 786 cases of attempted rape were reported to them in the current fiscal year. Of them, 544 cases of rape and 237 cases of attempted rape were reported in Province 1 which is the highest among all the provinces.
Rape and attempted rape case in the past four years
| Fiscal Year | Rape | Attempted rape | |
| 1 | 2053/054 | 112 | 34 |
| 2 | 2054/055 | 181 | 34 |
| 3 | 2055/056 | 141 | 18 |
| 4 | 2056/057 | 186 | 33 |
| 5 | 2057/058 | 122 | 35 |
| 6 | 2058/059 | 129 | 21 |
| 7 | 2059/060 | 157 | 18 |
| 8 | 2060/061 | 154 | 19 |
| 9 | 2061/062 | 188 | 25 |
| 10 | 2062/063 | 195 | 38 |
| 11 | 2063/064 | 317 | 70 |
| 12 | 2064/065 | 309 | 73 |
| 13 | 2065/066 | 391 | 75 |
| 14 | 2066/067 | 376 | 101 |
| 15 | 2067/068 | 481 | 151 |
| 16 | 2068/069 | 555 | 156 |
| 17 | 2069/070 | 677 | 245 |
| 18 | 2070/071 | 912 | 414 |
| 19 | 2071/072 | 981 | 562 |
| 20 | 2072/073 | 1089 | 452 |
| 21 | 2073/074 | 1131 | 536 |
| 22 | 2074/075 | 1480 | 728 |
| 23 | 2075/076 | 2230 | 786 |
| 24 | 2076/077 | 2144 | 687 |
| 25 | 2077/078 | 2321 | 666 |
| Total | 16986 | 5877 |
The aforementioned table shows that the incidents of rape were reported more in the Fiscal Year 2075/076 in the past 25 years.
Incidents of rape and attempted rape in the past four years in provinces
| Province | 2074/075 | 2075/076 | 2076/077 | 2077/078 | Total
Rape/Attempted rape |
|
| Rape/ Attempted Rape | Rape/Attempted rape | Rape/ Attempted rape | Rape/ Attempted rape | |||
| 1 | Province 1 | 384/186 | 544/237 | 485/160 | 557/151 | 1970/743 |
| 2 | Province 2 | 175/105 | 300/103 | 288/96 | 339/107 | 1102/411 |
| 3 | Bagmati | 191/98 | 230/58 | 256/86 | 271/80 | 948/322 |
| 4 | Gandaki | 119/60 | 181/79 | 161/62 | 190/54 | 651/255 |
| 5 | Lumbini | 270/131 | 369/127 | 384/99 | 399/116 | 1422/473 |
| 6 | Karnali | 59/33 | 140/45 | 139/57 | 143/43 | 481/178 |
| 7 | Far-West | 93/51 | 170/76 | 200/67 | 213/82 | 676/276 |
| 8 | Kathmandu Valley | 188/63 | 296/61 | 266/52 | 209/33 | 959/209 |
| 9 | Bureau | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 2/0 |
| Total | 1480 | 2230 | 2144/687 | 2321/666 | 8211/2867 |
Sources, Women, Children and Senior Citizen Service Center of Nepal
Rape cases spike during lockdown
Police said that 4,448 cases of four types of violence against women were reported in the three months of first Covid-19 lockdown. A total of 717 that means 16 percent of rape cases were reported to the police. Of them, 169 cases of rape were reported in Province 1, 98 in Province 2, 86 in Bagmati, 53 in Gandaki, 123 in Lumbini, 45 in Karnali, 79 in Far-West and 64 in Kathmandu Valley.
According to the statistics of police, 199 cases of attempted rape were reported in all the seven provinces. Of them, 53 cases were reported in Province 1, 20 in Province 2, 25 in Bagmati, 15 in Gandaki, 34 in Lumbini, 14 in Karnali, 25 in Far-West and 13 in Kathmandu Valley.
Manoj Kumar Acharya, Secretary at the National Women Commission, said that the Commission has been investigating the rapes cases seriously.
Meanwhile, the Criminal (Code) Bill, 2074 (2017) criminalises rape under Chapter 18, article 219 which states that no one is allowed to commit rape.
The Bill states that if a person rapes a woman without her consent or any girl under 18 years of age with or without her consent by using force or showing threat shall be considered a rape.
If a person rapes a girl above 10 years of age and under 14 years of age, he shall be sentenced to 18 to 20 years in jail.
Similarly, if a person rapes a girl above 14 years of age and under 16 years of age, he shall be sentenced to 12 to 14 years in jail. Likewise, if a person rapes a woman above 16 years of age and under 18 years of age, he shall be sentenced to 10 to 12 years in jail and will be fined Rs 400,000.
The Bill further states that if a person rapes a women of age 18 or above the 18 years of age, he will be sentenced to 10 years in jail and will be slapped with a fine of Rs 200,000.
In addition to that, if a husband rapes a wife, he shall be sentenced to five years in jail. In case, if a person infected with HIV/AIDS or STD rapes any girl or woman with knowledge of the disease, such a person will be sentenced to more than five years.
If a person rapes a differently girl or woman, he will be sentenced to life in prison.
