On December 8, 45-year-old Dammar Sarki killed his 40-year-old wife at their home in Uchalne in ward 3 of Siddha Kumakh Rural Municipality. It was nighttime when an argument broke out between the husband and wife. Sarki, in a fit of rage and under the influence of alcohol, attacked his wife with an axe. She did not survive the fatal attack.

According to the Dhodchaur Area Police, Sarki was arrested the same night and since then has been in judicial custody.

On October 15, an 18-year-old woman Sharmila Budhathoki from Kharpan in ward 4 of Siddha Kumakh Rural Municipality, killed her 49-year-old mother-in-law. She hit her mother-in-law with a log injuring her and then strangled her to death. According to police, the woman’s dead body was recovered from a rice storage container in the house. The accused was soon arrested and has been sentenced to prison for the crime.

On the night of August 8, Nabin Bhandari, a 23-year-old man from ward 13 of Mathillo Salyanchaur in Sharada Municipality killed his 48-year-old mother while she was asleep. Bhandari confessed to the crime and stated that a faith healer had convinced him that his mother was possessed by a demonic spirit and must be killed. According to the District Police Office, Bhandari repeatedly hit his mother which led to a severe head injury and blood loss. Bhandari, who was arrested soon after the incident, is currently serving a prison sentence.

On December 16, a 39-year-old man from Panikhola in ward 7 of Chhatreswari Rural Municipality was arrested by the Hulam Area Police on the charge of raping his sister-in-law when she was alone in the house. The accused has been remanded to police custody for further investigation, said police.

Such forms of domestic violence wherein a family member has committed a heinous crime against another member of the family are being reported frequently in Salyan.

According to the District Police Office, in the past few years, incidents like murders, rapes, domestic violence and disputes leading to physical altercations in the family have been increasing in the district. According to the details made public by the police, the contributing factors in most of the violent crimes committed in the past two years are alcohol abuse and unrestrained anger issues among the accused. Family disputes and rising unemployment have also contributed to the rise in heinous crimes in the district.

According to the District Police Office, in the fiscal year 2022–23, a total of 195 cases of crime were registered, of which three were homicides, three were rapes, and 76 involved domestic violence. Similarly, until the first week of December 2023, four homicides, five rapes, one attempted rape, and 22 cases of domestic violence were registered.

Even though the district authorities, security personnel and the local units of the district have been conducting awareness programmes in the local communities against the misuse of alcohol and other substances to mitigate violence, the impact of such campaigns is ineffective.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Nabin Karki, chief of the District Police Office, Salyan, said that the cause of most of the violent crimes committed inside families is excessive alcohol consumption, unemployment and the negative effects of social media.

“Most of the victims of domestic violence are women while not all criminals are men,” said Karki. “We organise awareness programmes and discussions with locals in more than 30 places in the district to control violent crimes happening inside families every year. But even after our continued efforts, we have not seen any significant decrease in the number of crimes happening inside households.”

According to Mina Budhathoki, a women’s rights activist and psycho-social consultant, due to the addiction to alcohol, unemployment, and abuse of the internet these days, mental problems and family disputes resulting in incidents of murder, rape, and violence inside families are increasing.

“Among the crimes committed inside households, the victims are mostly women and girls who are afraid of society’s reaction if they go to the authorities, which is to say that a lot of these crimes go unreported,” Mina told the Post. “Often, after the incidents of rape and domestic violence, women and girls feel helpless and die by suicide. The incidents do not come to light because the family members do not want such crimes to be reported.”

Min Bahadur Budhathoki, chief administrative officer of the Siddha Kumakh Rural Municipality, despite consolidated efforts from the authorities, controlling domestic violence and violent crimes has become a challenge.

“We conduct awareness programmes to raise awareness among the public about the ills of alcoholism and anger issues but our efforts have not borne fruit,” said Min Bahadur.

According to Bimala Roka, a local of ward 3 of Siddha Kumakh, only conducting awareness campaigns is not sufficient to control violent crimes in the villages since the campaigns only try to treat the problem superficially instead of delving into and solving the real triggers of these crimes.

“The local government should formulate rules and regulations at the local level to control such crimes and should establish a support group of locals in every ward of the local unit so the victim can seek help before it gets too late,” said Roka. “The awareness programmes are not going to help unless the criminals are afraid of the consequences. Instead of events and programmes, the local and district-level authorities should make sure they are always available for the victims in times of need. In remote areas of the district, it takes hours for the police to reach the victims, and by the time they reach them, it is too late to save the victims from violent family members,” she added.