Christians’ confidence in the judiciary in Nepal was shattered after a court sentenced a 63-year-old pastor to ten years in prison on rape accusations that the complainant later renounced, church leaders reported in August.
Pastor Govinda Prasad Dhakal, 63, was sentenced upon conviction for ‘frequently raping a minor’ who he and his wife had adopted in 2016. Christian leaders and his family roundly refute the allegation, citing an attempt by the alleged victim’s family to extort money.
‘We are not happy to see the verdict, because everything was pre-decided,’ said Tanka Subedi, chair of Nepal’s Religious Liberty Forum.
The complainant, the now-12-year-old girl’s mother, confessed before the court that she had fabricated the story in a fit of anger over the pastor’s unwillingness to pay the girl’s school fees after he returned the child to her custody. Authorities arrested Pastor Dhakal based on the mother’s initial statement.
Pastor Dhakal’s younger son was a witness to the courtroom proceedings. He said the mother expressed remorse, saying she never thought the pastor would end up in jail. ‘The girl’s mother in the court confessed “I was angry, but now I understand that I must not harm this religious person…I am sorry”,’ he said.
The pastor’s family and Christian leaders said they were shocked that, despite her confession and other documentary evidence, the court failed to relent in its determination to convict Pastor Dhakal. Because the alleged victim initially said, under pressure from a Hindu woman who opposes Christianity, that the pastor raped her, the court has the liberty to ignore the mother’s retraction and other evidence.
