Rinkukumari Sadai’s suspicious death case: Three held

KATHMANDU: A new development has emerged in the suspicious death case of 17-year-old Rinkukumari Sadai from Bhagwatipur, Nawarajpur Rural Municipality-1, Siraha.

Three individuals involved in the local panchayat have been arrested.

The arrested individuals are 84-year-old Chandeshwar Mandal, 45-year-old Rambinod Mandal, and 45-year-old Kamlesh Kumar Das.

According to the Siraha District Police Office, they were allegedly involved in facilitating a settlement through the panchayat and engaging in financial transactions.

DSP Birendra Kumar Paswan stated that the police have secured a five-day custody extension from the Siraha District Court for further investigation. The suspects are currently held at the Area Police Office in Lahan.

On Feb 20, the victim’s family filed a supplementary complaint against eight individuals under four charges: murder, rape, abduction, and financial settlement.

Among the accused, three were involved in the gang rape, while five were part of the settlement process. However, no one from the accused group has been arrested yet.

Rinkukumari was found hanging at her home on Feb 12. According to reports, she was abducted and gang-raped by three neighbors on the night of Feb 9 when she went out to relieve herself.

Following the incident, a village panchayat was held to settle the case.

The panchayat allegedly imposed a fine of Rs 140,000 on the perpetrators and prevented the victim from reporting the case to the police.