KATHMANDU: Nepal has jailed three army officers for six months each after a court martial found them guilty of torturing a 15-year-old girl suspected of being a Maoist rebel, a military officer said on Wednesday.

The girl died in army custody last year, another victim of a Maoist guerilla revolt that has left more than 12,500 people dead since 1996.

Colonel Bobby Khatri and two captains were jailed as the court martial in Kathmandu found them criminally negligent last week, Brigadier General B.A. Kumar Sharma told Reuters.

“They did not fulfil due legal process during interrogation. It was sheer negligence,” Sharma said.

Human right groups accuse the army of repeated abuses while trying to crush the Maoists who want to overthrow the impoverished nation’s monarchy.—Reuters