Kanchanpur, July 27 -- Every year as the anniversary of Nirmala Pant's rape and subsequent murder approaches, old videos of the case resurface on social media, reigniting public debate over one of country's most controversial unsolved criminal investigations. For Durga Devi Pant, the victim's mother, the renewed attention brings neither hope nor comfort-only painful memories of a justice system that has failed her family for eight years.

Journalists and social media influencers regularly visit Durga's home in July, asking the same questions: Does she still believe justice will be served? Does she think the murderer will ever be brought under book? She says she no longer has answers.

"We have waited for eight years, but the real culprit ...