Bardiya killing indiscriminate: Panel

KATHMANDU, April 7: The parliamentary committee on women, children and social welfare has found that the three women killed by the army in Bardiya National Park on March 10 were not poachers, and that they were inside the park to collect tree bark.



The report also states that the women were shot dead even though the army patrol could take them under control for entering the national park.



“A heap of tree barks was found some 150 meters away from the spot. So it indicates that they were not poachers,” reads the report prepared by the nine-member team of the parliamentary committee.



“Looking at the nature of the incident, the three women were killed as the army patrol used unnecessary force,” the report states.



The team also states that the army and the park authorities tried to hide facts and tampered with evidence as three guns and rifles were unnaturally placed at the incident site.



The team, however, could not claim if women were raped before being killed as the lab reports of their vaginal swabs is yet to come out.



The report also states that the locals are compelled to enter the park as their drinking water source is located there. The locals also go inside the park without any trouble as no security post is located nearby.

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