Bhakti Shah, a junior staff has been expelled by the army for having sexual relationship with another female in the Bhaktapur Army Training Centre, sources at the Army Headquarters said.

Action was initiated against her in 2007 after she was discovered to be a lesbian. Condemning the act as immoral, the Army Court decided to slap 60 days imprisonment and expulsion from the job but had to withdraw the jail term after protests by gay rights group. However, she has already spent 60 days in Army custody during investigation.

Sunil Babu Panta, a gay activist and the president of Blue Diamond Society, which is an organisation dedicated to the rights of sexual minorities, has termed the punishment as undemocratic and ridiculous.

The military court's verdict is a breach of the Supreme Court verdict that recognizes the existence of the third sex, Panta said.