The Rukum (West) District Court has allowed police to remand 18 people arrested over the alleged murder of six people, including a Dalit man who came to the district with his friends to tie the knot with a girl from an “upper-caste”, in custody for 10 more days.

The 18, including Dambar Bahadur Malla, the ward chairman of Chaurjahari Ward No. 8, were presented before the court for the second time on Thursday, after they were arrested based on a complaint filed by the kin of the deceased. Of 18 arrested, 12 were held on May 26 and others on May 28.

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

Earlier, the district court had remanded them in custody for 10 days on the same day they were caught.

“Police had urged that court to allow the accused to be remanded in custody for 11 days," said Krit Bahadur Bohra, an official at the district court. "The court, however, gave police ten more days."

On May 23, locals from Soti in Chaurjahari Municipality in Rukum (West) allegedly attacked Nabaraj BK of Jajarkot and 18 of his friends accompanying him to the village to help him elope with his girlfriend, who belonged to an “upper caste”.

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

“The victims’ family has filed a complaint against 20 individuals,” said police. “Two of them are at large.”

On May 24, the bodies of Nabaraj and his friend Tikaram Sunar, both of them Dalits, 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, whereas that of Govinda Shahi was recovered from Khodakhola, Jajarkot on Tuesday.

Related stories:-

- Serious human rights violations against Dalits reported during lockdown

- Amnesty International calls for impartial investigation into recent killing of Dalits

- Samata Foundation demands justice for Rukum (West) victims

- Government forms team to investigate the death of three youths in Rukum West