Two jailed for 17 years (The Kathmandu Post)

Two jailed for 17 years

The Kathmandu Post

Kathmandu, Dec 02

The Kathmandu District Court on Monday slapped 17-year jail on two individuals for molesting orphans sheltered at Bal Mandir, a non-government network of orphanages across the country.

A single bench of Justice Pashupati Acharya convicted Rabin Shrestha, former head of adoptions at Bal Mandir, and Rabin Chalise, a former student who ran a Youth Club at the shelter, for sexually exploiting the minors there. Both will be locked up for 16-and-a-half years. The three victims also stand to receive Rs 100,000 each in compensation.

The duo has been in police custody since June 17. Initially, the case was handled by the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police. The CIB probe showed that the duo molested the girls on numerous occasions. Medical reports and victims’ statements had clearly suggested that the girls were raped.

Activists from Action for Child Rights International-Nepal had presented testimonies of the abused to the CIB. In the complaint, they had said Shrestha and Chalise raped and molested the children, two of them autistic, repeatedly.

Almost one-and-a-half years ago, a visually impaired girl adopted by a foreigner had complained of similar sexual harassment by Shrestha. When her mother tried to file a case, she was barred citing the 35-day statute of limitations. Following the incident, the Forum for Women, Law and Development has filed a case in Supreme Court seeking a change in the 35-day time limit and action against Shrestha in the case.

Posted on: 2014-12-03

http://np.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2014/12/02/top-story/two-jailed-for-17-years/270357.html


For more on Rabin Shrestha & Rabin Chalise, see Pound Pup Legacy:

Nepal Children's Organization (NCO/Bal Mandir) -- child trafficking, corruption and sexual abuse

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/73445


Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Two orphanage workers jailed for raping autistic girls (The Himalayan Times)

Two orphanage workers jailed for raping autistic girls

The Himalayan Times

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

2014-12-02

KATHMANDU: A court has jailed two men who worked at a prominent orphanage in Kathmandu for repeatedly raping three autistic girls in their care, an official said today.

A judge at Kathmandu District Court found the two men guilty of rape yesterday evening in a fast-track case that has cast a spotlight on Nepal’s massive orphanage industry.

“Justice Pashupati Acharya has sentenced Rabin Shrestha and Rabin Chalise to 16 and a half years of imprisonment each,” said court Spokesman Shree Prasad Sanjel. “He also ordered both of them to give 100,000 rupees as compensation to each of the victims,” Sanjel told AFP.

Shrestha, 43, worked as head of adoptions at Bal Mandir orphanage, while Chalise volunteered as a fund-raiser for the institution. The girls, aged 13, 14 and 15, complained to a rights group which alerted police in June to the attacks.

Activist Salina Tamang, 29, whose group Action for Child Rights International pushed the case, said the verdict sent a clear warning to other orphanage employees against wrongdoing. “We are happy with the court’s decision...I believe this verdict can be a lesson for those working at other orphanages in Nepal,” she said.

The defendants’ lawyer, Ganesh Adhikari, told AFP that he planned to file an appeal at a higher court within a month.

The case underscored the problems facing Nepal’s orphanages, some of which have been hit by allegations of sexual abuse, corruption and fraud in recent years.

Nepal has 797 orphanages, according to official records, but activists claim the actual figure is much higher, with employees passing off children — whose families are cheated into sending them to the centres for a good education — as orphans in a bid to raise donations.

“Many orphanages here are unregulated and unregistered... the government should draw up a serious action plan to monitor these institutions so such incidents are not repeated in the future,” Tamang told AFP.

Police in February arrested the owner of Kathmandu’s Happy Home orphanage on charges of fraud, kidnapping and torture. In August 2012 British charity worker Simon Jasper McCarty pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three boys he met in Kathmandu.

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Two+orphanage+workers+jailed+for+raping+autistic+girls+&NewsID=435570


For more on Rabin Shrestha & Rabin Chalise, see Pound Pup Legacy:

Nepal Children's Organization (NCO/Bal Mandir) -- child trafficking, corruption and sexual abuse

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/73445


Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Former Bal Mandir officials convicted of raping three autistic minors (Republica)

Former Bal Mandir officials convicted of raping three autistic minors

Republica

Kamal Pariyar

KATHMANDU, Dec 3: The Kathmandu District Court on Monday convicted two former employees of Bal Mandir on the charge of repeatedly raping three autistic minor girls.

According to the Kathmandu District Court Registrar Shree Prasad Sanjel, a single bench of Justice Pashupati Acharya issued the verdict sentencing the two to sixteen and a half years in jail along with a fine of Rs 100,000 each.

The two convicted are -- Rabin Chalise, 29, chairman of a club of former NCO students and Rabin Shrestha, 43, former employee who headed the adoption department. “The two have been sentenced to sixteen and a half years in jail,” Registrar Sanjel said.

The two convicted had easy access to Bal Mandir, which is also known as Nepal Children´s Organization (NCO), one of the country´s oldest orphanages in the country.

The girls aged 13, 14 and 15 years had complained of being raped on June 14 this year. Following the complaints, the girls were rescued by child rights activists on June 17 from Bal Mandir with the help of Central Investigation Bureau (CIB). The two were arrested on June 20, 2014.

“The charge against them has finally been proven and we hope it would be a good lesson to other orphanages in the country,” Rama Shrestha, a lawyer, who fought the case for the victims, said.

Earlier, CIB under the leadership of DSP Kiran Bajracharya had found that the three minor girls were sexually exploited.

The minors were later shifted to CIWIN, in coordination with the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB), from the Bal Mandir after an NGO, Action for Child Rights International (ACRI), made a complaint to the police.

ACRI Country Director Salina Tamang expressed happiness over the court´s verdict.

Published on 2014-12-02

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=87830


For more on Rabin Shrestha & Rabin Chalise, see Pound Pup Legacy:

Nepal Children's Organization (NCO/Bal Mandir) -- child trafficking, corruption and sexual abuse

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/73445

Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Nepal Children's Organization -- NCO/Bal Mandir child rapists sentenced to 16 years in prison

Nepal Children's Organization -- NCO/Bal Mandir child rapists sentenced to 16 years in prison

From -- Action For Child Rights International (ACR-Int):

BREAKING NEWS: WE WON THE CASE AGAINST THE EX-EMPLOYEE AND EX-STUDENT OF BALMANDIR!!!

Case sexual of 3 minors

The judge, Honorable Pashupati Acharya, gave the final verdict on the case of three minors from Balmandir who were sexually abused by an ex employee and ex student. Both have been found guilty and have received 16 years imprisonment and in total each will pay Rs. 100,000 each to the three victims in compensation. We are extremely happy that the girls have been done justice by the court and we would like to thank FWLD, CWISH, CWIN and LACC for their support in this case. The girls can finally feel safe and hope that this will bring some relief for the pain and nightmares they went through. We will follow up the victims the best we can and make sure they receive appropriate guidance. We want to thank especially every person and organisation who showed their support towards the victims! We can't express how happy we are with this result!

http://www.acr-int.org/index.php/en/


For more on Rabin Shrestha & Rabin Chalise, see Pound Pup Legacy:

Nepal Children's Organization (NCO/Bal Mandir) -- child trafficking, corruption and sexual abuse

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/73445

Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/