Victims of Maoists’ decade-long insurgency in Nepal have demanded a high-level commission to probe the killings, forced disappearance and intimidation as the former rebels are poised to lead a government in the Himalayan nation.Nepal’s civil war left at least 13,000 people dead and both Maoists and security forces were accused of serious human rights abuses including torture, forced abduction and murder.The Maoists, who are inching towards forming a new government, have promised to return the properties seized by their cadres, but have failed to inspire confidence among those who have been victims of atrocities by their Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA).Scores of victims are still struggling to return to their villages and get back their properties seized by the Maoists.“I have been forced to stay at the district headquarters with my displaced family waiting for the Maoists’ permission to go back to my village,” Padma Kumari Sahi of Jubitha Village in the remote Kalikot district of western Nepal told mediapersons here.Sahi said she has been unable to even reach her village due to the Maoists’ threats.“It was difficult for me to meet the expenses of my 17-member family at district headquarters,” she noted at the press meet organised by the ‘Maoists Victims Struggle Committee’ (MVSC).After spending a month at the district headquarters, she finally returned to Kathmandu.“They have seized everything from me and my family,” she said, adding “The local-level Maoists say they have not received any directive from the central command to return the confiscated properties”.
