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Kathmandu, October 1
In a strange turn of events, Roshani Shahi, who had accused Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara of raping her, today made a complete U-turn, claiming what the media reported was not true and that she had never been a victim of rape.
In a video interview with nagarikkhabar.com, the nurse who works at Parliament Secretariat has referred to Mahara as ‘a fatherly figure&, whom she meets rarely.
Her face looked swollen and black marks were visible under the left corner of her lips as she was talking to the online portal.
But she refuted claims that Mahara had indiscriminately beaten her and later raped her at her rented apartment in Tinkune on Sunday.
&I&m miffed at Mahara as he did not help me when I was transferred to a rural area.
And this has been a bone of contention between us,&
Shahi, who referred to herself as a depression patient, said.
&But we discussed this issue over phone.
He has not visited my apartment.&
Her statement comes a day after she told hamrakura.com that a drunk Mahara had visited her apartment on Sunday, where he drank more, before raping her.
Earlier, in a video interview with hamrakura.com, Shahi accused Mahara of sexually harassing her for years.
&But what happened yesterday (Sunday) had not taken place in the past,& she had said, accusing Mahara of punching her in the face and indiscriminately beating her before raping her.
She was left with bruises on her leg and a swollen finger as she tried to defend herself.
&He again beat me up after he was done,& she said, adding, &I always looked upon him as a fatherly figure.&
Mahara has since tried to silence her.
As hamrakura.com was conducting the interview yesterday, Shahi received a call from cell phone 9851116456.
THT has verified that the number belongs to Mahara.
This was one of the many calls she has received from Mahara since she was raped.
&The call was made to request me not to go public,& she said.
Shahi and her husband are close acquaintances of Mahara, who frequently visited their residence, where he used to spend hours drinking with the her husband.
&Mahara used to sexually harass me even when my husband was present in the apartment.
He used to belittle me as well,& she said.
On the night she was raped, Mahara had called her at around 6:45pm to inform that he was dropping by.
&He was drunk when he arrived,& she said.
&Soon after he arrived he said he wanted to celebrate Dashain and opened a bottle of whisky.& He allegedly started forcing himself upon her after consuming whisky and finally raped her.
After Mahara left the apartment, Shahi told the landlady about the incident and called police.
A police station is less than a kilometre from her rented apartment.
&After reaching the crime scene, we asked the victim to visit the police station.
We also asked her to conduct a medical check-up,& Deputy Superintendent of Police Durga Raj Regmi said.
&But she said she&d visit the police station the next morning with her husband.&
Police then left the house even without collecting evidences from the crime scene.
Mahara eyeglasses were broken during the scuffle with the victim — remnants of which were left at the crime scene.
Mahara also left behind one of the insoles of his shoes.
The half-empty whisky bottle which Mahara had brought and salad prepared by Shahi for Mahara were also there at the crime scene.
The post Victim does U-turn, says media reports false appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
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