Nepal -- Rabin Shrestha (alleged child rapist) & Action for Child Rights International

Submitted by Harry Lime on Sat, 2014-06-28 20:29.

Shrestha first came to my personal attention in early 2012 when I was based in Kathmandu towards the end of my eight years in-country. I provided direct support to a British woman who was going through the process of adopting a blind five year old girl from Bal Mandir and who had discovered that the child had been raped during that time. The girl told her future mother that the culprit was Shrestha who allegedly would go to the home on Saturday mornings (staff day-off in Nepal) to conduct “marriage ceremonies” that culminated in horrific sexual attacks. We tried everything we possibly could at that time to have Shrestha arrested but his colleagues at the politically-powerful NCO successfully protected him (the NCO Chairman is the sister of Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister). Instead the Nepal authorities allowed NCO to conduct an internal inquiry which seemed to reduce Shrestha’s public profile within the organisation but still left him with access to children.

Following Shrestha's arrest NCO is now doing its best to cover up what has happened. The Central Investigation Bureau and NGO, Action for Child Rights International (ACR-Int), which instigated the arrest have come under huge political pressure to drop charges. Both are resolute in refusing to do this but ACR-Int have asked us to provide funds urgently to allow them to protect the girls and prosecute this vitally important case. Please help us now.

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Many thanks - let's fight (alleged) paedophiles

Philip Holmes

CEO Freedom Matters

From:

https://www.justgiving.com/acr-int/

Also worth reading -- the blog post of Lt.-Col Holmes:

In pursuit of truth?

Posted by Philip Holmes on Wed 25 Jun 2014

Nepal's edgy broadsheet "Republica" has deleted an article from last week about alleged serious sexual offences at a Nepal children's home.

Last week two Nepalese men were arrested for alleged serious sexual assaults on three girls at the NCO/Bal Mandir children's home in Kathmandu. This was at the instigation of ACR-Int who rescued the girls. The men are a former Head of Adoptions at Bal Mandir, Rabin Shrestha, and his accomplice, dental hygienist and former resident at the home, Rabin Chalise. The story was reported in Republica and in the article a spokesman for Bal Mandir, its General Secretary Subash Pokharel, stated that he didn't know of what past association Shrestha might have had with NCO/Bal Mandir. At the time I submitted an online comment that I found it inconceivable that Pokharel wouldn't have known Rabin Shrestha since he was a central staff member.

To my surprise the comment wasn't published. Even more surprising is that Republica - whose strapline is "in pursuit of truth" - has now taken down the report altogether. You can still read the article here!

http://web.archive.org/web/20140622115201/http://www.myrepublica.com/por...

Allegations were made against Rabin Shrestha in 2012/2013 including through a hard-hitting report on national TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tdb_KX0KvKA

The inquiry into those allegations was an internal one and Bal Mandir/NCO closed ranks. The upshot was that, whatever is alleged to have happened, Shrestha continued to have access to children.

Now it would appear that defensive measures are being put in place once again.

From:

http://www.freedommatters.org.uk/news/78/66/In-pursuit-of-truth/d,blogs....

Freedom Matters
The Old House,
Dartmouth Road,
Stoke Fleming,
Dartmouth,
Devon TQ6 0NX

http://www.freedommatters.org.uk/contact.html

Action for Child Rights International NPA
Office 1
Oudekerkstraat 28
2018 Antwerp

http://www.acr-int.org/index.php/en/contact

Action for Child Rights International (ACR-Int) and Freedom Matters are the only serious anti-trafficking organizations in Nepal. Both operate on a shoestring. Both deserve support.

For more on the scandal:

See

PEAR Nepal

Nepal Children's Organization -- former head of NCO/Bal Mandir adoptions arrested for child rape

http://pearadoptinfo-nepal.blogspot.com/2014/06/nepal-childrens-organiza...

(Also covers NCO's long history of alleged child trafficking.)

and

The Daily Telegraph

Nepal adoptions chief raped and groomed orphans for prostitution, claims British teacher

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/10931141/Nepal-adop...

and

Nepali Times

Child predators detained

http://www.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2014/06/28/child-predators-det...

and

Nepali Times

Child predators -- Even compared to recent scandals in children’s homes, allegations of abuse at Bal Mandir are shocking

http://nepalitimes.com/article/nation/bal-mandir-rape-allegations,1495

and

Pound Pup Legacy

Nepal Children's Organization (NCO/Bal Mandir) -- child trafficking, corruption and sexual abuse

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/73445

(On July 16th, the two alleged child rapists were denied bail.)

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Who ever is the British

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2014-07-03 09:26.

Who ever is the British Women.

1. There are clear procedures to adopt a child which includes complete medical examination.
2. Rabin Shrestha left the adoption department in 2010 4years back, any one can go to NCO and verify this record.
3. UK has band any adoption from 3 May 2010 nepal below is the post from "International Adoption Guide"

"In November 2009 The Hague Bureau published a report of its
technical assistance mission to Nepal which looked at the
inter-country adoption processes. It recommended to the
Nepalese Government a temporary suspension of intercountry
adoptions while it made the necessary reforms of
the process.
Following this report an Order was made to suspend adoptions from
Nepal by British Citizens. The Order came into force on 3 May 2010.
To date this Order is still in force and with no timings as to when it will
be lifted."

The original rape charges were in May of 2012

Submitted by Harry Lime on Fri, 2014-07-04 00:14.

The original rape charges were in May of 2012.

This PDF of NCO's staff page (June 2012) clearly shows Rabin Shrestha as a senior staffer:

http://www.freedommatters.org.uk/uploads/images/blogs/NCO%20June%202012%...

Salina Tamang Also Under Police Custody

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2014-07-03 17:23.

Salina Tamang, the country director of Action for Child Rights International-Nepal, was in police custody yesterday. She was taken in custody after the children of Bal Mandir submitted her to the police for her role in providing false information about the organization to various news papers. The children were complaining about their reputation which was damaged by Salina's claim which has yet to be proven by the courts. What does it tell you, when someone is protested against and put in jail by the ones that person is supposedly protecting?

Also, it should be noted that Action for Child Rights International-Nepal is nor registered in Social Welfare Council(SWC) of Nepal. For any INGO or NGO to operate in Nepal, it should be registered with the SWC. Either this organization is not registered at all or has not renewed its registration. This is also a serious issue that doubts the authenticity of Salina and her Nepal based organization.

Sending thugs to rough up Salina proves nothing

Submitted by Harry Lime on Fri, 2014-07-04 00:41.

Sending thugs to rough up Salina proves nothing:

Republica -- Bal Mandir Students Protest Public Exposure Of 'sexual Abuse' Charges

KATHMANDU, July 2: Students of Bal Mandir, also known as Nepal Children´s Organization (NCO), on Wednesday protested against the public exposure of some 'sexual abuse' charges at a time when the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) was intensifying its investigations into the matter.

CIB has been investigating the charges following the detention of two persons previously associated with NCO, one of the oldest orphanages in the country. Following media reports that quoted child rights activists making the charges, the accused were arrested for involvement in the sexual exploitation of three students at NCO.

The students encircled the office of the Action for Child Rights International (ACRI) at Kuleshwor and handed over Salina Tamang, country director of ACRI, to the Metropolitan Police Circle Office, Kalimati, for exposing a sensitive matter associated with the future of students at NCO.

RK Tamang, an ex-student of NCO, said, “We cannot remain mum when so-called rights activists acting out of vested interests.expose a sensitive case that directly impacts the psyche of students residing in the orphanage.”

The students also challenged country director Tamang to prove the alleged sexual abuse charges leveled by three three minor girls. They claimed that the rights activists and some legal advocates have been raising the matter for the sake of garnering international donations in the name of child rights. They chanted slogans against the activists and the charges made by them.

However, country director Tamang said that she was misquoted by media and she did not collect any donations in the name of the minors. “I am speaking for child rights. Let us wait until the CIB publishes its findings,” she said amidst police security at Kalimati police office.

The two under police custody were identified as Rabin Chalise, a former NCO student, and Rabin Shrestha, a former NCO employee. The two were arrested after three minor girls living in the Naxal orphanage of the organization complained about being sexually exploited.

According to SSP Uttam Karki, officiating chief of CIB, “We are investigating the case seriously, in view of the sensitivity of the charges.” But it was not a good idea to make public statements or to protest when the case was under investigation, he added. He also claimed that the facts of the case would be unveiled in the coming week.

The minor girls were shifted to a safe house run by some other NGO in coordination with the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB) and the police.

Subash Pokharel, general secretary of NCO, said that the organization has been supporting CIB to ensure free and fair investigations but the rights activists had been trying to influence the investigations in order to garner foreign aid.

He also underlined that none of the girls residing at Bal Mandir had been exploited so far but if the accused were proved guilty they should be penalized.

The stakeholders should respect the sensitivity of the orphanage and child rights, he added. The children threatened to go for stringent protests if the stakeholders ignored the sensitivities of Bal Mandir.

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=...

Who are the real thugs?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2014-07-04 11:16.

Harry, thank you for replying. But I'd prefer a reply in your words instead of a news article which was the base of my previous comment.

Also, you believe that the very orphan children of Bal Mandir are now thugs? Or were you referring to their mothers from Bal Mandir?

Looks as if Republica made a complete hash of the story

Submitted by Harry Lime on Fri, 2014-07-04 19:00.

Looks as if Republica made a complete hash of the story:

ACRI/Nepal -- Press Statement July 4th 2014

On the 2nd of July 2014, Balmandir students, staff and ex-students entered ACRI/Nepal's office due to the misunderstanding created by an article printed in the Rajdhani Newspaper, dated 1st July 2014. ACRI/Nepal has recently been approached by many different journalists to speak about the arrests of Rabin Shrestha and Rabin Chalise, but we have refrained from giving any information that might affect the current investigation being performed by the Central Investigation Bureau. Our information to the media is only limited to our press release which was put on our Facebook page on 20th of June 2014.

There was no arrest made of ACRI/Nepal’s Country Director, Salina Tamang, on the 2nd of July 2014, which has been incorrectly quoted in recent newspaper articles. The Kalimati police had simply played the role of a mediator to clear the misunderstandings between Balmandir and ACRI/Nepal. In fact, when the supporters of Balmandir arrived at the ACRI/Nepal office, Salina Tamang was not present. Only until she was informed by the staff about the situation did she go to the Kalimati police station to understand and deal with what was going on.

After the misunderstanding of the Rajdhani Newspaper article was cleared by the journalist who printed it, stating that the information that directly affected Balmandir and its students had in fact not come from Salina Tamang, a joint press statement was given by both ACRI/Nepal and Balmandir, protesting the baseless information that was written. It was then also agreed upon by all involved that everyone should wait for the final investigation report from the police before further action was taken. ACRI/Nepal also stated to Balmandir that this is not a fight against the organization but against a crime. The meeting between the two organizations ended with a clear understanding that both will fight jointly against child abuse.

We sincerely hope that after this incident all involved will respect the on-going investigation, without further harassments and threats to the victims, witnesses and others involved. We also hope that spreading of false rumors will cease immediately. We have strong confidence that the police of Nepal are taking the allegations seriously and investigating the rape of these young girls in a professional and legal manner.

Press Statement ACRI/Nepal

ACRI/Nepal is an official registered NGO in Nepal working to defend victims of child abuse and exploitation.
ACRI/Nepal is a member of the international umbrella organization ACR-Int

http://acr-int.org/images/Press%20statement%20balmandir.pdf

Nepal -- Rabin Shrestha (alleged child rapist) & Action for Child Rights International

See also:

Who ever is the British

The original rape charges were in May of 2012

Salina Tamang Also Under Police Custody

Sending thugs to rough up Salina proves nothing

Who are the real thugs?

Looks as if Republica made a complete hash of the story

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