KANCHANPUR: The Kanchanpur District Court has given clean chit to eight police personnel, including SP Dilli Raj Bista, in the rape and murder case of Nirmala Pant.

A bench of District Judge Gopal Prasad Bastola acquitted all eight of them.

A case was registered at the Kanchanpur District Court against eight police officials for allegedly meting out torture as well as destroying evidences in connection with the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala in Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur district on July 26, 2018.

According to Yadu Raj Sharma, the registrar of Kanchanpur District Court, SP Dilli Raj Bista, DSP Angur GC, DSP Gyan Bahadur Sethi, Inspector Ekindra Bahadur Khadka, Inspector Jagadish Prasad Bhatta, Sub Inspectors duo Har Singh Dhami and Ram Singh Dhami and constable Chandani Saud alleged of torture and spoiling the proof have got the clean chit.

Nirmala was raped and subsequently murdered when she was returning home from her friend’s house on July 26. Her body was found the next day in a water-logged sugarcane field.

The incident agitated the country with local people, right activists organizing protests throughout the country demanding stern action against the culprit(s).

Nirmala’s parents, father Yagya Raj and mother Durga Devi, came to the capital, Kathmandu seeking justice on September 12 where people expressed solidarity with them by taking to the street.

On October 7, a high-level committee formed to probe into the incident led by Joint Secretary Hari Prasad Mainali submitted its report to the Home Ministry failed to give any concrete evidence about the incident.