Maina Sunuwar Murder Case: Supreme Court to Deliver Verdict Today

Kathmandu. A hearing has been scheduled for today (Friday) for the verdict in the murder case of Maina Sunuwar, who was killed by the Nepali Army during the armed conflict in Kavre. The case, being heard by a joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Hariprasad Phuyal and Tekprasad Dungaana, had its hearing concluded on Asar 22, 2082. A verdict was supposed to be delivered on Asar 22, 2082, but it could not be announced that day. The verdict is scheduled to be delivered today, one year after the hearing was completed.

On May 3, 2074, the Kavre District Court, presided over by Judge Mediniprasad Poudel, sentenced Lieutenant Colonel Bobby Khatri, Captains Amil Pun, and Lieutenant Sunil Prasad Adhikari to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of the murder of 15-year-old Maina Sunuwar. They were 'absconding' when the case was being heard in the district court.

Captain Saroj Regmi of the Army's Judge Advocate Department filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking the cancellation of the sentence against Khatri, Pun, and Adhikari, who were convicted of murder by the Kavrepalanchok District Court.

After the Nepali Army filed a case seeking the cancellation of the district court's verdict, Maina's mother, Devi Sunuwar, filed a murder case against the three army officers as defendants on Bhadra 7, 2080. Subsequently, the Supreme Court has been hearing both petitions together.

In the case of the illegal detention and murder of the teenage girl Maina, who was at home during the conflict, the district court had sentenced Lieutenant Colonel Khatri, Captains Pun, and Lieutenant Adhikari to life imprisonment under Section 13(3) of the chapter on homicide in the Muluki Ain.