What began as a routine public land clearance drive in ward 3 of Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality in Saptari has left a family homeless and ended in the death of a 75-year-old woman, who relatives say was overwhelmed by the aftermath.

The ward office had issued a seven-day notice on May 4 to remove houses and sheds built on public land in the Sakarpura settlement. Acting on the notice, local authorities arrived with a bulldozer on Monday and demolished structures belonging to the family of Ratni Devi Malahani.

Her children— Parameshwar, Bindeshwar and Laxmi Mukhiya — along with their families, were left without shelter and have since been living under tarpaulins set up over debris and along a roadside.

Family members said Ratni Devi was deeply affected by the demolition and the conditions that followed. Her son Bindeshwar said she gradually stopped eating and became increasingly anxious about the family’s situation.

“After the house was demolished, mother was extremely worried. Seeing the children struggling under tarpaulins in the heat disturbed her deeply,” he said. “She stopped eating properly and kept worrying about where everyone would stay.”

Ratni Devi died on Thursday night after several days of poor food intake, according to the family.

Her daughter-in-law, Sushila Mukhiya, said they tried to reassure her, but her anxiety did not ease. “We tried a lot to console her, but she could not reduce her worries,” she said. “Even at the end, she kept asking where everyone would sit and sleep.”

The death has deepened grief in the displaced household. On Friday morning, her body was placed at the site where the houses had been demolished as family members and locals gathered in mourning and anger.

Bindeshwar Mukhiya alleged the demolition was selective. “We had voted for a different party. To take revenge for that, the ward chair demolished houses of seven families, including ours,” he said. “Most houses here are on public land, but only ours were demolished.”

The ward office notice had directed Bindeshwar, Parameshwar, Chandrakala Devi, Bhogendra Mukhiya, Domi Mukhiya and Om Prakash Mukhiya to vacate public land, stating that protecting public property was the responsibility of the local government. It did not mention action against other encroachments in the ward.

Ward chair Ramesh Kumar Mukhiya rejected allegations of bias, saying the drive targeted structures that had remained after earlier clearance efforts.

“This is not revenge. Structures in other areas were already removed earlier,” he said. “In the cleared area, we have allocated a budget this year to build a temple and other structures.”

He added that the municipality was working to support the affected families.