KATHMANDU: The government is certain that it has located the individual or people who murdered and sexually abused Nirmala Panta, as stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane on Sunday. Nepalese media has given the matter a lot of coverage. As he wrapped up his second almost four-month assignment at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Lamichhane said they were extremely close to having definitive findings from the probe.

Speaking to the media, Lamichhane stressed that although he was frequently asked about the matter, he did not want to make any snap decisions until there was real movement on the situation. He emphasized how seriously security services are taking the investigation and gave his word that a breakthrough is imminent.

The country was startled by the horrific rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta of Bhimdatta Municipality-16, Ultakham, Kanchanpur. On July 26, 2018, she vanished from her friend's Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur, home. Her corpse was found in a nearby sugarcane field the next day.