UPDATE: Nepal: Women human rights defender murdered

Thank you very much for your continued support and solidarity towards the WHRDs movement in Nepal especially for your lobby and pressure on the issues of access to justice for Ms. Laxmi Bohara.

Likewise, please find below the following updates after the urgent appeals were sent on 16 June:

1) 16 June: Urgent Appeals were circulated extensively amongst the network and a large number of networks drafted their own appeal and circulated their appeal to their networks. The support and solidarity has been very strong and overwhelming. Thank You.

2) 16 June: After intense pressure and lobby from the WHRDs network in Kanchanpur and NAWHRDs and other networks, the FIR was registered in the name of Laxmi Bohara after her father has submitted a complaint on 7 July, 2008;

3) 17 June onwards: The committee members of WHRDs district, Kanchanpur has been receiving threats and harassment from the perpetrators. The magnitude involves anonymous phone calls, threat that if the WHRDs do not stop working on the case they will be killed in 7 days time, death threats, verbal abuses etc. The committee members are Sharda Chand, Kalsa Mahara, Bharati Singh and Asha Niruwa;

4) 27 June: Sharda Chand, Kalsa Chang and Asha Niruwa were hit by motorcycle at different time schedule while they were in their way for work;

5) 2 July: Around 20-30 men gathered around the periphery of the office of Sharda Chand and threatened her while 5 men even entered the gate of the building. However after alerting the Police and the Human Rights Network, they arrived at the spot and the mass ran away. However after a while, the sister in law of the perpetrator came with another huge mass of 25-30 people and demanded Sharda Chand to come out of the office. This included verbal slogans against Sharda Chand.

6) After such attacks on physical integrity, threats, harassment, 3 cases have already been registered in the Police station as a case of attack on physical self;

Threats, harassment, verbal abuses, death threats, attacks on the WHRDs have become a common feature everyday. The WHRDs are unsure of what will happen to them next. There is fear amongst them yet they are determined and committed to help this case for access to justice. The state structures are not showing enough concern and proper and unbaised investigations have not started yet.

Today, the WHRDs network in Kanchanpur are organizing a Public Hearing where government officials, Police and human rights network have been invited however there is a feeling of doubt amongst the network members if such forum would even been taken seriously.

Once again, thank you very much for your ongoing support and solidarity and hope that our commitments to promote women's rights, protection of human rights will continue.

We will update you once the details come to us.

Warmest Regards,

NAWHRDs