The Nepali President pardoned Dilip Bista. (AP Photo/File)
A murder convict who was pardoned and released from prison “for good conduct” by Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in June, allegedly raped and murdered a teenage girl last month.
Dilip Singh Bista, who had spent 10 years in jail for committing a murder, was released on the recommendation of Nepal’s Cabinet.
Despite several public protests, on Nepal’s Republic Day on May 29, President Bhandari had pardoned at least 1,000 prisoners, including convicts, undertrial prisoners and a Maoist lawmaker, Balakrishna Dhungel, sentenced to a life term for murder. Bista was released in early June, and is suspected by police of having raped and murdered a teenage girl in western Nepal’s Kanchanpur district on July 26.
Bista was arrested last week and is in judicial custody.
Activists, legal experts had protested against Bhandari’s decision to pardon the convicts. The Nepali government had even concealed the list of people the Cabinet had recommended for pardon when the Supreme Court had asked for it, while hearing a public interest litigation on the issue.