Eighteen days after going missing, the body of a young girl was found brutally murdered in the Belbari-Chisang Community Forest area connecting Letang Municipality–2 and Belbari Municipality on Kartik 7. The victim’s family has demanded that they will not receive the body until the culprit is arrested.
The 13-year-old girl from Fadani, School Chowk in Letang Municipality–2 was discovered in the forest with severe mutilation after being missing for 18 days. The family has taken a firm stand that they cannot receive the body until the perpetrator is apprehended.
The girl was a fifth-grade student at Laxmi Secondary School in Fadani, Letang Municipality–2, and had been missing since October 7.
Once the body was found in a brutal condition in the forest along the Letang–Belbari border on Kartik 7, police documented the scene and sent the body to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Ghopa for post-mortem examination. Although the post-mortem was conducted on October 24, the girl’s uncle, Dilli Gautam, stated that the family cannot receive the body for cremation until the forensic report is released and the culprit is arrested.
After the girl was reported missing, the family had filed a request for investigation at the Area Police Office, Letang, on October 7. Eighteen days later, her body was found dismembered and her clothes torn when locals collecting fodder discovered the remains and informed the police.
According to SP Kavita Katuwal of the District Police Office, although trained dogs were deployed for investigation, the body was severely decomposed, making the investigation more complex.
Since the body was found in the forest, SP Katuwal mentioned that the cause of death could range from a wild animal attack to rape and murder, and only the forensic report will confirm the actual cause.
Despite the family’s refusal to accept the body, police stated that the investigation will continue and that the culprit will eventually be identified.