Sita Baidik was arrested on 16 January, and when her husband Padam Prasad Baidik went to see her in custody the following day, he was arrested as well. The police say they have handed the couple over to the army. No one has been able to visit them since, and it is feared they may be at risk of torture.

Sita Baidik was arrested at her book stall in Tulsipur town, Dang district, in mid-western Nepal. She was reportedly taken to the area police office in Tulsipur, and Padam Prasad Baidik was arrested when he went there to try and visit her on 17 January. When the Chairman of the Appeal Court Bar Association went to the police station to make inquiries on their behalf, the police told him that they had both been handed over to army officers from an army camp in the district, called Bahini Adda.

It is believed that Padam Prasad Baidik and Sita Baidik may have been arrested because the authorities suspect them of being members or supporters of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN)(Maoist). In their student days, both were members of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), affiliated to the Samjukta Jana Morcha (United People's Front, UPF).

When the CPN (Maoist) declared a "people's war" in February 1996, the UPF split in two. Those who supported the aims of the CPN (Maoist) became the UPF (Bhattarai), but this has since ceased to operate as a political party. Those members who opted not to join the armed struggle have continued to function as the UPF. However, the authorities view the UPF as a front for the CPN (Maoist). When peace talks aimed at ending the "people's war" broke down in November 2001, and the government declared a nationwide state of emergency, the UPF was reportedly placed on an unpublicized list of organizations whose members would be treated as "terrorists".

According to the Director of Military Operations at Army HQ, Sita and Padam Prasad Baidik have been released. The date of release is not known. Details of their treatment in custody are not known.