A suspended lawmaker and former Minister of State was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2010 murder of Arun Singhaniya, who was then the chairman of Janakpur Today Media Group. Freedom Forum said the verdict is a boost for the campaign against impunity in Nepal.
This statement was originally published on freedomforum.org.np on 22 September 2022.
Freedom Forum welcomes the Janakpurdham High Court’s verdict of life imprisonment for an individual convicted of murdering media entrepreneur Arun Singhaniya. The Court issued the verdict on September 21, 2022. Singhaniya, the then chairman of Janakpur Today Media Group, was shot dead on March 1, 2010 at a local Shiva Chowk of Janakpur. Janakpurdham is in Nepal’s Madhesh Province.
The High Court sentenced the suspended lawmaker and former Minister of State Sanjay Kumar Saha to life imprisonment; he was declared the mastermind of the murder.
According to FF’s reports, Singhaniya’s son Rahul had filed a complaint at the District Police Office, Dhanusha on April 9, 2010. In the complaint, he accused Chandra Dip Yadav from Bharatpur Ward No 8 of Dhanusha, Bijay Kushiyat and Dipendra Kushiyat from Ward No 1 of the same place, Ram Binod Yadav from Kakanpatti Ward No 1, Pavan Lama from Bharatpur Ward No 8, Manak Lama from Uma Prempur Ward No 2, Yogendra Sahani from Yagyabhumi Ward No 5, Anshi Rai from Bharatpur Ward No 9, and four others who were unidentified of being involved in his father’s murder.
Among others, Manak Lama, Chandra Dip Yadav, Mukesh Chaudhary, Eklal Sahani and Anshi Rai have been serving their jail term. Suspended lawmaker Kumar Saha was also serving a jail term for his involvement in a bomb blast at Ramanand Chowk, Janakpur on April 30, 2012.
FF is happy to share the news of this development as it could contribute to reducing impunity for crimes against journalists. Though late, the long pending impunity case has been addressed, providing justice to the victim’s family. FF further urges the concerned authority to continue its investigations and to address the remaining cases of impunity relating to crimes against journalists. The court verdict in question has bolstered the morale of working journalists, the media fraternity and FoE advocates.
