Former Nepal speaker arrested over attempt to rape charge

Former Speaker of Nepal's Parliament Krishna Bahadur Mahara was arrested on Sunday for allegedly attempting to rape a woman staffer in the federal parliament secretariat.

Following the Kathmandu District Court's permission based on a First Information Report lodged on Saturday, the police took Mahara into custody from the official residence of the Parliament speaker in Baluwatar in the outskirts of Kathmandu, officials said.

The police said a case has been filed against the former speaker under attempt to rape and acts of violence.

On Tuesday, Mahara resigned as the speaker of Nepal's Parliament over the allegations.

In his resignation letter, Mahara said he resigned to allow a fair investigation over the allegations. Earlier, Mahara had denied the allegations.

In a video released by online news portal Hamro Kura, the 'victim' woman claims that she has known Mahara for years and that he has behaved indecently with her in the past as well.

The woman said Mahara visited her rented room on September 23 while she was alone.

The woman said she tried to stop Mahara, who was in an inebriated state, from entering her home but he did not listen.

She alleged Mahara forced himself on her and when she tried to stop him, he abused her.

In the video, the woman displayed blue marks on her body, saying these were the places Mahara struck her.

The secretariat of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) had met on Tuesday and decided Mahara should resign from the post of Speaker, according to NCP sources.

This is the first time in Democratic Nepal's history that a high profile political personality has been arrested in a rape case.

If proven guilty, Mahara will face upto five years imprisonment.