Rupak Shrestha, 26, of Bhaktapur was arrested for raping a 16-year-old girl in Nagarkot, Changunarayan Municipality, Bhaktapur.

The girl lodged a complaint with Bhaktapur-based Metropolitan Police Range, saying she was raped by Shrestha. Police said he issued threats to the victim and committed the crime.

The number of women and girls filing rape cases with police has increased by more than 50 per cent in fiscal 2018-19.

Police said more girls and women had started coming forward to file rape cases with the law enforcement agency due to greater awareness among women and girls. As many as 2,233 cases of rape were reported in the fiscal 2018-19, which is significantly higher than 1,480 cases reported in the previous fiscal.