Releasing its investigation report, HRW said that Nepal government should ensure prompt and through investigation and prosecution into all of the cases it investigated. [break]
“These armed groups are willing to risk children´s lives to extort money from poor shopkeepers, farmers, and teachers,” the statement quoted Bede Sheppard, HRW´s senior children´s rights researcher as saying. “If the police consistently fail to get these children freed and home safely, they lose the faith of the community."
Though the abductions documented by HRW are a small proportion of the total, the rights watchdog said the problem appears to be much broader.
“An English-language media survey by Human Rights Watch shows that at least 28 children had been abducted in the Tarai region in 2010. Nine of these abductions ended with the child being killed, and in two cases girls were raped by their abductors,” HRW said.
HRW further said there have also been serious allegations by families and human rights activists that members of the police themselves have been involved in carrying out abductions, or have benefited from turning a blind eye to these cases.
“Human Rights Watch called on the government of Nepal to investigate all cases of abductions and take appropriate measures to prevent these abductions,” HRW said.
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