Tanahun Police announced the arrest of Budhe Damai , 68of Shuklagandaki Municipality-8 Gurdam on 10 April, 2021.
The police publicized the details regarding the arrest of Damai because he had absconded after being convicted by the court of various offenses.
In the public statement, the police said that Budhe Damai was convicted by the Tanahun district court for an incident of rape in 1972, and had absconded without serving his sentence.
However, Damai complains that his brother is the real culprit. Budhe Damai, says that the police punished him for the crime committed by his brother.
Budhe pleaded before a team of human rights defenders during a prison inspection led by INSEC on 7 April 2023, to monitor the human rights situation of Tanahun prison inmates, to provide him justice.
Tanahun District Court sentenced Keshe Damai of Shuklagandaki Municipality-8 Gurdum to 6 years imprisonment in the case of rape that took place in 1972.
Keshe Damai, who was on the run then, died while on the run. The police arrested his 67-year-old brother Budhe Damai, instead of closing the file. Despite reassuring the police that he was the culprit’s brother, the police proceeded with the case against him. He has served two of the six years of imprisonment. Ironically he has submitted his brother’s death certificate to the prison.
Budhe said that even expressed this injustice to the district judge during a prison monitor visit a few months ago, he also expressed his pain before the judge.
Narayan Adhikari, Acting Chief of District Jail Tanahun, said that the police presented Budhe Damai to the court stating that Keshe Damai and Dudhe Damai were the same people.
SP Awadesh Bista of the District Police Office said the police would inform about the issue after a detailed investigation.