By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 5: The Office of Attorney General (OAG) has requested all the government attorney offices across the nation to mandatorily request continuous hearing while filing a charge sheet in rape cases.
"A meeting of coordination committee held on October 1 has requested all the district and high court government attorney offices to compulsorily demand a continuous hearing in rape cases by citing Rule 96 (1) of the National Criminal Procedure Rule, 2075 in order to make the investigation and hearing procedure in such heinous criminal offence more effective," said Lokraj Parajuli, Assistant Attorney General, by issuing a notice on Sunday.
The Rule states that in criminal cases including rape, where the Nepal government is plaintiff, continuous hearing can be done regardless of the presence of the accused at the court during the hearing.
Considering the increasing rape cases in recent times, the OAG has also appealed to the government attorneys to ensure that special investigations take place to find out the facts quickly, which further helps in prosecution of the case.
Likewise, the OAG has also requested the government attorney offices to keep the record of the number of rape cases recorded by the office and whether a continuous hearing had been demanded in those cases.
"If it is not demanded, the OAG directs all the offices to request for a continuous hearing within seven days of issuance of this notice." read the notice.
The OAG has called all the district and high-court government attorney offices to produce the number of rape cases and progress report of continuous hearing before the department of secretariat within seven days.