17 February 2025, Kathmandu: On the 21st anniversary of the murder of the then 15-year-old Maina Sunuwar at the hands of Nepal Army officers, Maina Bal Bikash Samiti, in collaboration with Advocacy Forum-Nepal, on Monday organized a commemoration event at Bhagawati Secondary School, Panchkhal, Kavre district where Maina was studying before her life was taken away.
The organizers distributed sports and stationery supplies to the primary-level students and they were informed about the significance of remembering the serious human rights violation of Maina Sunuwar and other victims of Nepal’s internal armed conflict.
Mahesh Kharel, Mayor of Panchkhal Municipality, graced the programme with his presence.
Maina was killed by the Nepal Army at the Birendra Peace Operation Training Centre (BPOTC) in Panchkhal, Kavre, on 17 February 2004.
For years, Maina’s mother, Devi Sunuwar, has fought a painful and relentless legal battle to hold the perpetrators accountable. On 16 April 2017, the Kavre District Court convicted three retired army officers—Colonel Bobby Khatri, Captain Sunil Prasad Adhikari, and Captain Amit Pun—in absentia for Maina’s murder, a crime punishable by life imprisonment in Nepal. However, serving Captain Niranjan Basnet, who was responsible for Maina’s arrest and witnessed her torture, was acquitted. None of the convicted have been taken into custody to serve their sentence.
