Charity head investigated over alleged child sex abuse in Nepal
THE United Nations is investigating claims that a former senior official with links to a British charity sexually abused children in his care.
Police in Nepal said they had found evidence that suggested Peter Dalglish, a Canadian, had been “targeting children from poor financial backgrounds and sexually abusing them”.
They claimed Mr Dalglish was found in a room with two children in their early teens after they launched an early morning raid at his home in Nagarkot, near Kathmandu earlier this month.
Mr Dalglish, 60, founded the charity Street Kids International and around 15 years ago also founded the Himalayan Community Foundation, which provides health care and education to remote communities in Nepal.
A statement released by the country’s Central Investigation Bureau said that inquiries were continuing into Mr Dalglish’s behaviour. It added that he had been working in the country providing education and drinking water to poor communities with his charity.
Under Nepalese law Mr Dalglish could be jailed for eight to 12 years if he were convicted of the allegations.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Pushkar Karki, director of the bureau, claimed that Mr Dalglish had persuaded parents to entrust their children to him by offering to provide education for them as well as taking them abroad and finding them with jobs.
During his 30-year career in aid work, Mr Dalglish has been with the World Food Programme, Unicef, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as spending stints as a UN representative in Afghanistan and in Nepal.
Unicef said it was reviewing its records, as did the World Food Programme. The WHO said it was “shocked” at the allegations but no complaints had been made to the organisation about Mr Dalglish.
Street Kids International (SKI) is now part of Save the Children, which said he had never worked for it.
“Save the Children acquired one of SKI’S programmes and some of its assets in 2015,” a spokesman said.
Rahul Chapagain, Mr Dalglish’s lawyer, said: “Charges have not been filed but he denies the allegations. He will plead not guilty.”