Devi Sunuwar holding a picture of Maina

In 2004 Nepal was in the midst of a civil war. The Maoists and the Government were pitched against each other with increasingly violent tactics being employed on both sides. On 17th February a group of twelve soldiers arrived in a village in Kavre Palanchowk district of Nepal. They were acting upon intelligence; a recent Maoist captive had named people who had been in contact with The Party. One of those people was Devi Sunuwar.

On arriving at Devi’s house they discovered she was out, and found no evidence linking her with the Maoists. They decided to arrest Devi’s daughter, a 15 year old called Maina. Captain Niranjan Basnet who was in command told Maina’s father ‘We will take her in for interrogation. When your wife returns, send her to the Panchkhal barracks. We’ll interrogate her and send her back’.

The soldiers escorted Maina back to Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre, Panchkhal. When they arrived Maina’s interrogation began. Seven soldiers took part: Lt Col Khatri, Captain Basnet, Captain Adhikari, Captain Amit Pun, Sergent Maj Khadka Bahadur Khatri, Dil Bahadur Basnet (a runner in the officers’ mess) and Shrikrishna Thapa.

Captains Adhikari and Pun, acting on Khatri’s orders, asked Dil Bahadur and Shrikrishna Thapa to bring in a large container of water. Then the torture of Maina began. The soldiers began to force her head under water. A court of inquiry which was eventually convened to examine this evidence said: ‘It has been learnt that she was drenched, and that she choked time and again due to [being held under] the water’.

At this point Maina had refused to talk. The soldiers therefore decided that it was time to electrocute her. They pulled a live wire out of the hot water tank and began to press it to her hands and feet, which were still wet.

According to the court of inquiry, Maina’s wrists started to bleed at this point. The electrocution was therefore temporarily stopped. By then Maina was very weak and admitted that she had been involved in Maoist activity for a couple of months. After Shrikrishna left, Captains Sunil and Amit ordered Sergent Maj Khadka Bahadur Khatri to ‘convince’ her by administering more shocks, and Maina was again electrocuted. After severe torture lasting one-and-a-half hours, Maina was extremely weak. She was then taken outside near a temple within the baracks and it was agreed that the interrogation would continue after the soldiers had eaten.

Maina was blindfolded, her hands were tied behind her back, and there was a sentry guarding her. Shrikrishna Thapa and Khadka Bahadur were also there. At around 11AM, Boby Khatri was informed that Maina was vomiting and foaming at the mouth and in serious condition. “When a medical orderly came over to check on her, she was already dead,” the verdict further says. “After Maina Sunuwar died, Boby Khatri ordered a cover-up of the incident. A plan was worked out to bury the body secretly. [Boby] Khatri ordered Amit Pun to do so, and ordered Niranjan Basnet to bring police over from the Panchkhal Police Post to prepare a report,” the report states.

Pun called JCO Surendra, informed him of the incident and instructed him to dig a pit in a spot northeast of the officers’ mess, 50-60 meters outside the concertina wire. A little later, soldiers Dil Bahadur Basnet and Shrikrishna Thapa were asked to bring over a sack each. The two sacks were slipped over Maina’s head and feet, before her body was put into the vehicle. Amit [Pun] had driven the vehicle to where the body was.

“Captain Amit ordered soldier Dil Bahadur Basnet to fire a shot into back of the deceased with a Colt command weapon, telling him to also remove the sacks after placing her beside the pit. The soldier misfired, and then Amit himself fired two shots from the same weapon. Only one hit Maina’s body in the back,” the report states. After shooting her body, Amit photographed it and buried it, with the help of those present.

Meanwhile, Captain Basnet reported the incident to a sub-inspector, an assistant sub-inspector, and a police jawan at the Panchkhal Police Office. Colonel Boby Khatri asked the police to ‘make-up’ a story about the body. The story stated that Maina was arrested, tried to break the security cordon in Hokse and jump out of the vehicle. She was shot by the security forces while doing so, and died.

THE AFTERMATH

On 18th February 2004 Devi Sunuwar, her husband and a number of other villagers went to Panchkhal Military Barracks. The officers on duty assured them that Maina had never been arrested. On 20th February they went to the District Police Station, police officers also assured them that Maina had not been arrested.

Following this it is not clear when the Army began investigating Maina’s death. Eventually national pressure became so intense that the Army convened a Board of Inquiry. That Board of Inquiry submitted its opinion on 14th March 2005. That inquiry recommended that a General Military Court Martial under the Chairmanship of Major General Kiran Shamsher Thapa. That Court Martial eventually decided that Lt Col Bobby Khatri, Captain Pun and Captain Adhikari had been convicted of failing to follow appropriate procedures in disposing of Maina’s body. The officers were only sentenced to 6 months in prison (which they were already adjudged to have served).

No military proceedings were ever brought against the other soldiers involved.

However, in 2008 a civilian court issued arrest warrant against Niranjan Basnet and three others who were involved. As yet those arest warrants have not been successfully acted upon.

In the meantime Niranjan Basnet has been promoted and was posted to Chad on UN Peacekeeping operations. Under huge national and international pressure the UN realised how inappropriate this was. They therefore repatriated Basnet in December 2009. He was then taken into custody by the Army who have reused to surrender him to the civil courts or take any action against him.