Nepal’s ex-parliament speaker cleared of attempted rape

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s former parliament speaker, who quit his job over attempted rape allegations, was on Monday found not guilty after the alleged victim retracted her testimony.

Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a senior member of the ruling Nepal Communist Party and former Maoist rebel, has been in detention since October after a female employee in the assembly accused him of trying to rape her. "He has been acquitted from the district court today," Kathmandu district court spokesman Ananda Shrestha told AFP.

Mahara’s lawyer Murahari Sapkota told AFP he was set free by the court as the allegations were not established as the victim "accepted" the ex-speaker’s statements declining his involvement.

In a video interview published in September on an online news portal, the woman said Mahara was drunk when he arrived at her home and assaulted her. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, withdraw her allegations a few days later, following alleged threats and pressure, media reports said then.

She eventually submitted a formal complaint and a government lawyer filed the case with the court. Investigators collected evidence including a bottle of whisky and a pair of broken spectacles, allegedly belonging to Mahara, from her home.

Mahara denied the allegations but stepped down as speaker. A former rebel leader during Nepal’s decade-long Maoist insurgency, Mahara previously served as deputy prime minister and held several ministerial posts.