Govt locked us in cages without food and water: Nepal activists

Nearly 1,500 Nepalese pro-democracy activists, arrested during the countrywide protests, today accused the government of treating them inhum...

Nearly 1,500 Nepalese pro-democracy activists, arrested during the countrywide protests, today accused the government of treating them inhumanely by keeping them in cages meant for animals and denying them food and water.

The Nepal Government has kept some 1,500 political activists, who were detained from various parts of the capital on Friday, inside the animal cage at the National Food Corporation in Thapathali, where goats and sheep are kept during festivals, former assistant minister for tourism Shushil Man Serchan, who was one of the detainees, said.

‘‘We were kept inside a closed door godown without any window and with no food and drink for the whole day,’’ he alleged.

The detainees were served food only the next day after some human rights groups visited the godown, one of the three detention centres, where the activists were kept.

There are still 2,500 detainees in the three detention centres. Others are lodged in the Dasharath Stadium and Mahendra Police Club. Former PM and Nepali Congress chief Girija Prasad Koirala, who was injured in clashes between demonstrators and police yesterday, visited the detention centres this morning.

Some 10,000 activists, who defied a ban on demonstrations, gave mass-arrests yesterday. The protests were launched by five parties including the Nepali Congress and Nepal Communist Party-UML to demand restoration of democracy. —(PTI)