Sexual violence against minor girls in the district seems to have grown alarmingly. In the last one month alone, four girls have been reportedly raped by close relatives and family members as well as others. The victims include two mentally challenged girls. According to DSP Basanta Rajaure, the police is investigating all the cases. One of the victims, a 12-year-old girl, said that her own uncle who lived in the same hut with her family would take her to a goat shed and sexually abuse her frequently. She was unable to speak about it earlier because she was threatened of dire consequences. The victim's mother is now making rounds of the police station in the hopes of getting justice for her daughter. Even the mother was hesitant to report the matter to the police after she came to know about it because of social stigma attached to rape. such henious crimes try to use social and political influences to force the victims and their families into silence. "We have received four cases of rape of minors in the last one month. Two are under 12 and other two are mentally disabled," said Rajaure. According to him, girls with disabilities are more vulnerable and those lacking proper accomodations after the earthquake can easily become victims. Akash Patel, 34, of Gorkha municipality was accused of luring a mentally challenged girl and raping her two weeks ago. He's under police custody now. Thirty-one-year-old Santa Bahadur Gurung, a local of Saurpani, has been sent to jail for raping a 12-year-old. Similarly, Arjun Poudel, who posed as a sage in Tipling village, is in police custody on the charge of raping an 11-year-old girl. "The fear of being exposed to social stigma forces girls to keep quiet even when they are victimized. Post earthquake, keeping girls safe in absence of proper housing has been more challenging for families," he commented. He further added that disabled girls become easy prey to criminal minded people. According to Prakash Pangeni, program coordinator of WOREC, an organization that works for women empowerment, cases of rape are being reported a bit more than in the past. "Few would speak up against such incidents in the past. Nowadays, they are reported more easily," he remarked. According to Pangeni, perpetrators of