The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to take effective steps to save the life of Ganga Maya Adhikari by ensuring his right to justice and managing proper accommodation.

In a press release issued by the spokesperson of the Commission Dr Tikaram Pokhrel on Thursday, NHRC has reiterated its request to the government to abide by its agreement reached with Ganga Maya earlier.

NHRC also urged Ganga Maya not to take the risky path of hunger strike as a means of protest.

Demanding legal action against the culprit involved in the murder of her son Krishna Prasad Adhikari, NHRC said it had been monitoring Ganga Maya’s health condition since the day she started her fast-unto-death.

The Bagmati Provincial Office of the Commission has written to the Ministry of Health and Population and Bir Hospital to make arrangements to protect Ganga Maya’s life, health and provide her with proper accommodation.

Adhikari has been staging a hunger strike since December 21, 2020 demanding justice for her son and is currently undergoing treatment in the emergency room of the Trauma Center. Her health condition is deteriorating by the day.

Ganga Maya was shifted to the isolation ward of the Trauma Center in April from her earlier spot of hunger strike – Bir Hospital — after a citizens’ appeal following the government decision to designate the Hospital’s main building as a dedicated COVID-19 health facility.

Ganga Maya and her late husband Nanda Prasad Adhikari, residents of Gorkha district, started a hunger strike as part of their Satyagraha since January 2013, demanding justice for the murder of their youngest son 16-year-old Krishna Prasad Adhikari during the Maoist insurgency.

Krishna Prasad was killed by the then Maoist rebels in Chitwan in June, 2004.

The couple demanded that no amnesty be given to those involved in the murder and that the guilty be brought to book.

However, on 22 September 2014, the 334th day of the couple’s hunger strike, Nanda Prasad died.

Though Ganga Maya continued her Satyagraha even after her husband’s death, the hunger strike was postponed on the 359th day when the government promised to fulfill its commitment to address Ganga Maya’s demand for justice and pledged to look after her throughout her life.

Six years since the government’s pledge to justice, the promise has yet to materialise and Ganga Maya has staged fast-unto-death on several occasions at the Bir Hospital premises.

Ganga Maya and her husband had initially reached out to every state body and requested for legal action against those involved in their son’s murder. However, after no hearing was held, they came to Kathmandu from Gorkha and started a hunger strike in front of the Prime Minister’s Office, Baluwatar.

The government had taken the couple to Bir Hospital after their condition deteriorated due to the prolonged Satyagraha.

Nanda Prasad’s body is still in the mortuary of the TU Teaching Hospital as Ganga Maya has refused to receive the body until justice is served.

After the death of her husband, Ganga Maya’s condition deteriorated and the government had arrested the main accused Chhabilal Poudel and filed a case against him. However, the Chitwan District Court acquitted everyone accused in the case except for absconding accused Rudra Acharya in 2018, August-September.

Ganga Maya has filed an appeal in the Hetauda High Court against the District Court’s decision, and hearing on the case is pending.