The Speaker of Nepal’s Parliament resigned on Tuesday over allegation of raping a woman staff in the federal parliament secretariat.
Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara tendered his resignation letter to Deputy Speaker Shivamaya Tumbahamphe, officials said. In the letter, Mr. Mahara said he resigned to allow a fair investigation over the allegations.
Earlier, Mr. Mahara had denied the allegations by the woman.
In a video released by online news portal Hamro Kura , the woman claims that she has known Mr. Mahara for years and that he has behaved indecently with her in the past as well.
The woman claimed Mr. Mahara visited her rented room on September 23 while she was alone. The woman Mr. Mahara was in an inebriated state and she tried to stop from entering her home, but he did not listen. She alleged Mr. Mahara forced himself on her and when she tried to stop him, he abused her.
The secretariat of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) had met earlier on Tuesday and decided Mr. Mahara should resign from the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Himalayan Times reported.
Spokesperson of the ruling party Narayan Kaji Shrestha said the secretariat meeting decided Mahara should step down to facilitate the investigation against him, the report added.
