Rape and murder of toddler in Nepal sparks calls for the death penalty

The rape and murder of a 3-year-old girl in Nepal has sparked widespread outrage and protests in the Himalayan country, with activists and politicians demanding tougher laws on rape, including calls for the death penalty to be imposed for the crime.

The little girl went missing from her home in Bara, about 80 miles south of the capital Kathmandu, on August 16. Her body was found at an abandoned house three days later. Police registered a case of rape and murder and have arrested nine suspects, including a bus driver and a 16-year-old boy who worked on the same bus, who they accuse of luring the girl into the attack with chocolate.

Outrage over the attack led to protests that lasted several days, with angry demonstrators, many of them young people, blocking highways around the capital.

Protesters shouted slogans denouncing the police and government over alleged delays in taking action to find the missing girl, and then to find the perpetrators. There has also been pointed criticism of Prime Minister Balen Shah, who came to power following Gen-Z-led protests in 2025 that led to his predecessor KP Sharma Oli being ousted.

Shah, a relatively young leader who brought hope to many in the country that systematic change in policing and other issues would be implemented, is facing criticism for failing to usher those changes — and for going on a personal tour of a picturesque mountain region in the country as the protests ramped up earlier this week.

The father of the victim alleged that police didn't respond with urgency when the family reported her missing, forcing family members to mount a search themselves.

"I raised the matter with the police," the man told The Kathmandu Post . "But they said they could not proceed merely on what I was saying, and asked me to file a formal complaint by naming suspects."

The protesters, along with several activists and politicians, have demanded tougher laws against rape and sexual violence.

Government ministers met with the victim's family over the weekend and promised to review laws and create a memorial in honor of the little girl.

"Will erecting a statue bring back the life of a 3-year-old girl?" Pramila Kumari Gachhadar, a lawmaker with the opposition Nepali Congress party, asked in parliament Monday, criticizing the government's handling of the case. "An agreement paper may temporarily stop protests, and relief may ease momentary pain, but it cannot restore long-term perception of justice and trust in the state."

Another lawmaker, Prakash Pathak of the prime minister's Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), urged the government to consider the death penalty for convicted rapists, according to The Himalayan newspaper.

Nepal's constitution bars the death penalty for any crimes, so the maximum sentence a court can currently impose is life imprisonment.

"If possible, provisions for hanging rapists must be made.