UML Lawmaker Baniya suspended on rape case

CPN-UML Lawmaker Mohan Baniya, who is currently facing a rape case, has been suspended. Baniya allegedly raped a 40-year-old woman at a hotel in Nepalgunj on February 2. The victim lodged the complaint against the Lawmaker at the District Police Office in Banke on February 10. Speaker Agni Sapkota during Sunday’s Parliament meeting read out a letter from the District Police Office, Banke informing the House of the ongoing investigation into a rape charge against Baniya in Nepalgunj.

With the suspension of Baniya, the main opposition will have 97 votes in Parliament. Two Nepali Congress lawmakers Bijay Gachchhar and Mohammad Aftab Alam and two Janata Samajbadi lawmakers Hari Narayan Rauniyar and Resham Chaudhary also remain suspended for a several months. Baniya, who has been elected to the HoR from Mugu in 2017, was arrested from Nepalgunj Airport in Banke district on February 28 after a case was registered against him.