Tikapur riot accused Resham Chaudhary sworn in as MP

House of Representative member-elect from Kanchanpur-1, Resham Chaudhary, was sworn in as a Member of Parliament (MP) on Thursday.

Speaker of House of Representatives, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, administered the oath of office to Chaudhary.

Chaudhary is facing charges of murder, attempt to murder and robbery along with 56 others, and is an accused in the 2015 Tikapur riots.

However, the newly-elected MP said he was hopeful of justice being delivered. "The legislature will give us justice and it should. I still stress on a fair and in-depth investigation. The culprits should be penalised," he noted.

Rajendra Mahato, coordinator of Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) said, "With the swearing-in of the Resham Chaudhary, the consonant of the people and the democracy is honoured. The government should have taken this step long back."

The RJP-N lawmaker, who has been in prison for over three years, was taken to the parliament from Central Jail at Dilli Bazar amid tight security and was returned to jail after the ceremony was over.

According to The Kathmandu Post, Chaudhary is the main accused in the lynching of eight police personnel and an infant in Tikapur of Kailali district in August 2015. He was on the run after being charge sheeted for his alleged key role, but later surrendered before Kailali District Court on February 26, 2018.

Chaudhary won the House of Representative election from Kailali-1 securing more than double the votes secured by his key rival Madan Kumar Shah.