- News>
- Asia
Students in Nepal skip classes for fear of Maoist kidnappers
Kathmandu, Jan 08: School children in Western Nepal are skipping classes because they are afraid of being abducted by Maoist rebels, a report said today.
Kathmandu, Jan 08: School children in Western Nepal are skipping classes because they are afraid of being abducted by Maoist rebels, a report said today.
Nepal's army and armed police were still hunting for the more than 200 youngsters aged between 12 and 15 years who have been abducted from several schools in Western Nepal in the last few days, army sources said yesterday. Around 150 students were taken in the Bajura district, 435 kms west of Kathmandu, on Friday, while there were reports of another 60 taken from the northwestern Doti district and Western Kailali district in the last couple of days.
"The Maoists are expected to use these young boys and girls in their fight against the security forces," an army official told a news agency requesting anonymity. Many students in western districts were not attending school and even fleeing their homes in fear of the rebels, said the English-language daily the Kathmandu Post.
"Dozens of high schools have been closed down in the absence of adequate number of students," it said.
A student who had previously escaped from a Maoist camp said he had been taken for training. "The students were threatened to remain silent about the training programmes and the place where such orientation programmes were carried out," he told The Kathmandu Post.
The rebels kidnapped 45 schoolboys in southwestern Nepal in December but released them after two days.
Bureau Report
Nepal's army and armed police were still hunting for the more than 200 youngsters aged between 12 and 15 years who have been abducted from several schools in Western Nepal in the last few days, army sources said yesterday. Around 150 students were taken in the Bajura district, 435 kms west of Kathmandu, on Friday, while there were reports of another 60 taken from the northwestern Doti district and Western Kailali district in the last couple of days.
"The Maoists are expected to use these young boys and girls in their fight against the security forces," an army official told a news agency requesting anonymity. Many students in western districts were not attending school and even fleeing their homes in fear of the rebels, said the English-language daily the Kathmandu Post.
"Dozens of high schools have been closed down in the absence of adequate number of students," it said.
A student who had previously escaped from a Maoist camp said he had been taken for training. "The students were threatened to remain silent about the training programmes and the place where such orientation programmes were carried out," he told The Kathmandu Post.
The rebels kidnapped 45 schoolboys in southwestern Nepal in December but released them after two days.
Bureau Report