The body of 19-year-old Govinda Shahi of Bheri Municipality in Jajarkot was recovered from Bheri River in Khodakhola, Jajarkot on Tuesday. 

Shahi is the last missing victim of the Soti incident.

[Read: Human Rights Watch calls on Nepal government to ensure justice for caste-based killings]

According to the District Police Office in Jajarkot, the body was retrieved from the river on Tuesday, 10 days after he was allegedly murdered and thrown into the Bheri river.

DSP Kishor Kumar Shrestha of the District Police Office in Jajarkot said Shahi’s body was recovered some 20 km downstream from the incident site.

[Read: Soti incident premeditated, a team of provincial assembly members concludes]

Chhabi Pant, a local man who saw Shahi’s body, said: “The head of the victim was covered with a cloth when the search party found him. His eyes were damaged, and his hands and nose were broken.”

DSP Shrestha said that the body was collected and sent to Jajarkot Hospital for postmortem.

“The cause of death will be known only after we’ve received the postmortem report,” he added. 

Shahi was the youngest son of Indra Bahadur Shahi and his wife Kumari, residents of Ward No. 11 of Bheri Municipality. He was to appear for the Secondary Education Examination from Sheetal Secondary School in Chaurjahari this year.

[Read: Investigation into the Soti incident starts on Friday]

On May 23, the villagers of Soti in Chaurjahari Municipality, Rukum (West), had reportedly attacked Nawaraj BK and his friends, including Shahi, who had allegedly come to take BK’s 17-year-old girlfriend.

A day later, the bodies of Nabaraj and Tikaram Sunar were found on the banks of the Bheri river. The bodies of Ganesh Budha, Lokendra Sunar and Sandip BK, who went missing in the incident, were recovered on May 25.

[Read: UN condemns Dalit killings in Rukum (West) and calls for independent probe]

Four of the victims are from the Dalit community, and it is believed that the incident was a result of caste-based discrimination.

Police have taken 18 people, including Dambar Bahadur Malla, the ward chairman of Chaurjahari Ward No 8, in police custody. The investigation into the incident is ongoing. 

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