The Indian government has decided to provide Rs 800,000 to the family of a Nepali man who died at the hands of Indian Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel eight years ago. Mukul Raya Yadav, of Saramjawa Rural Municipality in Rautahat district, had died due to beating by Indian border security personnel in 2009.

The Indian National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) after an in-depth investigation concluded that Yadav died due to the injuries he sustained from the beating of SSB.

Saying that the SSB had also violated the human rights, the NHRC, which carried out investigation from the incident site, directed the Indian government to provide compensation to the family members of the deceased.

This is the first time that the Indian government is providing compensation to a Nepali citizen saying that the SSB had violated the human rights by beating up a Nepali citizen at Nepal-India border.

“It is the first time the Indian NHRC held the SSB guilty and demanded compensation,” said NHRC Secretary of Nepal Bed Prasad Bhattarai. “We had sent letters to the Indian government several times in the past, but this is the first incident of serious investigation on the part of Indian government,” he added.

Saying that the Indian NHRC had directed the Indian government to provide compensation to the family in last October, the Indian NHRC had asked the NHRC of Nepal to provide bank accounts of the family members.

In a letter sent to NHRC of Nepal, the Indian NHRC has urged the Kathmandu-based Indian Embassy to provide compensation amount to Urmila Devi, wife of Mukul, through the Indian Home Ministry.

The NHRC of Nepal had sent a letter to the Indian NHRC requesting a fair investigation into the incident in 2009.

The NHRC Nepal Chair Anup Raj Sharma-led delegation had also urged the Indian NHRC to carry out necessary steps to ensure compensation for the family and to coordinate in the future regarding the human rights violation incidents at border area.

According NHRC spokesperson Mohana Asari, the initiative of the Indian NHRC is a welcome move and hoped that it would protect the human rights.