E/CN.4/1995/34 page 97 Nepal Information transmitted to the Government 501. By letter dated 5 August 1994 the Special Rapporteur informed the Government that he had received reports indicating that torture in police custody continued to be used both as a means to obtain information or confessions and to punish persons detained for political reasons. Although Nepali Law requires that detainees be brought before a court and charged within 24 hours of arrest, victims were said often to be arrested without warrants and held for prolonged periods, at times incommunicado, and sometimes in excess of 20 days. 502. According to the reports, torture occurred in Sindhuli, Gorkha, Kaski, Katmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Ilam, Morang, Rolpa, Lamjung and Rukum districts. The forms of torture used were said to include beatings with sticks; beating on the soles of the feet (falanga); beatings with sisnu (a plant which causes painful swellings on the skin); punching, kicking, having pins inserted under the fingernails and being threatened with rape. 503. The individual cases summarized in the following paragraphs were also communicated to the Government. 504. Teelu Ghale was arrested in Katmandu on 22 September 1993 and at the Hanuman Dhoka station police officers allegedly beat her, applied electric current to her wrists, attempted to rape her and attempted to extort money from her. On 26 September, her mother filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court, and the police reportedly responded by denying that they had arrested her. She was then transferred to Bhaktapur police station, where she was allegedly further abused and denied food for two days. She appeared before the Supreme Court on 5 October, following that Court’s order to produce her, and the police maintained that she had been arrested only the previous day. A Supreme Court investigation was said to have concluded that she had in fact been arrested on 22 September and contempt of court proceedings were said to have been initiated against the police. No action, however, was said to have been taken to investigate the torture allegations. 505. Jagrit Bhetwal and Amik Sherchan, members of parliament, were among those persons reportedly beaten and arrested by police on 20 July 1993 during demonstrations in support of a nationwide transportation strike. Amik Sherchan allegedly suffered a broken hand and was hospitalized as a result. Also in connection with the demonstrations, Harihcandra Raya was arrested on 19 July at Janakpur in the southern region and was allegedly subjected to torture in police custody. 506. Bijaya Lama, an 18-year-old labourer in Suryavinayak, Bhaktapur, was arrested on 5 July 1994 during a demonstration in Bhaktapur. He was allegedly taken to the office of the District Superintendent of Police with a number of other detainees and beaten severely until he was unconscious. The following morning, he was brought to Bhaktapur hospital and diagnosed as suffering from a head injury. He was then transferred to Bir hospital, where he died.