Forty-two hours after a violent clash between inmates at Kailali District Prison left one inmate dead and dozens injured, security personnel—accompanied by a National Human Rights Commission team—were finally able to enter the facility on Sunday afternoon.

The incident, which began on Friday night, saw prisoners attacking each other, resulting in the death of 36-year-old Bharat Chaudhary of Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan City-4.

At least 46 inmates were injured, with two—Ayush Bhatta and Karna Saru Magar—airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment. The rest are receiving care in Dhangadhi.

Prison officials had been unable to account for the inmates since the incident due to tensions inside.

“Today we conducted a headcount. The uncertainty over the condition of the inmates has now ended; everyone’s condition is stable,” said Commission director Prakash Dutta Bhatta. Officials reported 398 inmates in Block A, 196 in Block B, and 57 in the women’s block.

Chief District Officer Gogan Bahadur Hamal said tensions inside the prison were now subsiding. “We have counted the inmates, and step by step, we will begin dialogue with them,” he said.

However, Chaudhary’s family has refused to claim his body until there is a fair and transparent investigation into his death.

“We will not take the body until the cause of my brother’s killing is clearly investigated,” said his brother Bijaya Chaudhary. Hamal said talks were ongoing with the bereaved family and that their demands were being taken seriously.

With a capacity for just 150 inmates, Kailali Prison currently holds 695 prisoners, showing the chronic overcrowding, drug abuse, and violence plaguing the country’s prison system.

Rights advocates warn that without addressing these structural problems and the system of appointing ‘prison leaders’ from among inmates, such clashes are bound to recur.