Sapkota sworn in as Nepal's Speaker amid protests

Agni Prasad Sapkota on Monday was sworn-in as the Speaker of Nepal's House of Representatives, the Lower House of Parliament, amid protests by human rights activists against his appointment.

The leader of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) was elected to the post unopposed on Sunday.

The post of the Speaker was lying vacant since October last year after Krishna Bahadur Mahara resigned following allegations of attempted rape.

Sapkota was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Bidya Devi Bhandari at Rastrapati Bhawan. After the swearing-in ceremony, he assumed his office at the Federal Parliament Secretariat in Singhadarbar.

Sapkota has been elected to the Speaker's post despite a murder case pending against him in the Supreme Court.

He is accused of being involved in the abduction and killing of a civilian, Arjun Lama, in 2005 during the height of Nepal's decade-old Maoist conflict. Lama was abducted from a school at Dapche in Kavrepalanchowk district where he was attending a parent-teacher meeting.

Police rounded up 12 human rights activists and some agitators who were protesting outside Rastrapati Bhawan against Sapkota when his swearing-in was in progress.

Senior Advocate Dinesh Tripathi on Friday filed a PIL against Sapkota's candidacy, stating that an FIR had been filed against him accusing him of killing Lama.

The Supreme Court, however, did not hear the case challenging Sapkota's candidacy.