The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has drawn the government’s attention towards the deteriorating health of Ganga Maya Adhikari, who has been staging fast-unto-death strike since December 21 demanding justice for her son Krishna Prasad.

Issuing a statement on Monday, NHRC Joint Secretary Yagya Prasad Adhikari urged the government to take effective measures so as to ensure justice and save Adhikari’s life. The rights body also reminded the government of its past commitments made to Ganga Maya and her husband.

NHRC also reminded the government of its recommendation on April 2005 to initiate action on criminal charges against the perpetrators and provide compensation to the victim’s family.

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.

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.

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.

NHRC also urged the government to address and resolve several other incidents of human rights violation from the armed conflict as soon as possible.

On October 15, 2020, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had published 20 years of data, naming 286 people, mostly police officials, military personnel, and former Maoist insurgents, as suspects in serious crimes.

In particular, the information relates to cases where its investigators concluded there is evidence warranting investigation and prosecution for abuses including torture, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killing.

The report highlighted just how little progress there has been to establish meaningful human rights protections to address conflict era violations and ongoing abuses. The culture of impunity in Nepal is contributing to ongoing serious human rights abuses, the report said.

Serious violations and abuses were committed between 1996 and 2006 during an armed conflict between government security forces and Maoist rebel forces. The former Maoist party in now part of the government.

Since the conflict ended, the former enemies have effectively joined ranks to successfully shield their supporters from accountability, fostering a culture of impunity that continues to protect those responsible for ongoing extrajudicial killings and deaths in custody allegedly resulting from torture.