Bimal Rajbanshi remanded in custody over alleged rape of minor and cyber blackmail

Birtamod, September 20, 2026 — The Jhapa District Court has ordered 25-year-old Bimal Rajbanshi to be held in custody pending trial in a case involving allegations of rape and cybercrime against a 17-year-old girl.

Rajbanshi, a resident of Birtamod Municipality-3, had earlier been arrested in Oman and brought back to Nepal after an Interpol Red Notice was issued against him. Nepal Police said the Red Notice was issued on May 13, 2026, following a request from the National Central Bureau (NCB) Kathmandu. He was arrested in Oman through coordination between NCB Kathmandu and NCB Muscat and returned to Nepal for legal proceedings.

According to the charge sheet submitted to the Jhapa District Court, Rajbanshi allegedly contacted the girl through Facebook and called her to Chandragadhi on May 17, 2024, before taking her to New Badal Hotel and Lodge in Birtamod. Prosecutors allege that he raped her after promising marriage.

The charge sheet further alleges that Rajbanshi recorded an explicit video of the girl without her consent during the incident. He allegedly used the video to threaten her with publication and distribution to relatives, pressuring her to send nude photographs and subjecting her to repeated sexual abuse.

After subsequently travelling to Oman for foreign employment, Rajbanshi allegedly created a fake Facebook account when the girl stopped communicating with him. According to the prosecution, on February 17, 2026, he sent the girl's explicit photographs and video to her mother's Facebook Messenger account.

The girl's mother allegedly asked him to delete the material and not defame her daughter. Prosecutors allege that Rajbanshi instead threatened the mother and demanded that she send intimate photographs, warning that he would circulate her daughter's explicit material if she refused.

The girl and her mother filed a police complaint at the District Police Office, Jhapa, on February 24, 2026. Following the complaint, authorities sought international assistance to locate and arrest Rajbanshi in Oman. Nepal Police subsequently confirmed his arrest there and his return to Nepal.