The murder case of 15-year-old Binod Shahi in Panchdewal Binayak Municipality of Aachham, which occurred amid political tensions following the 2022 local elections, has taken a major legal turn four years later, with the High Court Dipayal overturning a district court verdict and sentencing six people to life imprisonment.

A division bench of Chief Judge Dinesh Prasad Yadav and Judge Poonam Singh Chand issued the ruling on Monday, allowing appeals filed against the earlier acquittals and reduced sentences handed down by the District Court of Achham.

According to court spokesperson Nar Bahadur Negi, Sajjan Shahi, Mahendra Shahi, Birendra Shahi, Devendra Shahi, Prithvi Shahi and Akkal Shahi have been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 177(2) of the National Penal Code, 2017. Sajan Shahi also serves as the Nepali Congress Panchdewal Binayak municipal president.

The court has also ordered each of the six convicts to pay Rs 100,000 in compensation to the victim’s family.

In the same judgment, the high court upheld the district court’s decision to acquit four other accused — Danmati Bam Shahi, Dropati Shahi, Karn Bahadur Shahi and Shanti Kumari Shahi. The district court had earlier, on November 20, 2025, acquitted all the accused in the case.

Background of the incident

The case dates back to the 2022 local elections. Following the conclusion of the elections on May 13, 2022, political tensions escalated in Panchdewal Binayak between supporters of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML. Repeated disputes were reported in the area after the announcement of the election results.

Amid the unrest, Shahi, a tenth-grade student at a local school, went missing on May 31. Four days later, he was found dead near Panchdewal Campus in Panchadewal Binayak Rural Municipality-4.

Shahi’s family and relatives, on June 9, filed a police complaint accusing 13 people of being involved in his death. They claimed the 15-year-old boy was killed by activists of the Nepali Congress over an election-related dispute.

During the local level election on May 13, activists of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML had clashed at a polling centre in Panchadewal Binayak-4. Police personnel deployed for poll security had to fire bullets in the air to contain the situation. The election was halted for some time but resumed after major political parties expressed commitments to placate their enraged supporters.

However, the dispute between activists of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML resurfaced again on May 30. Some Congress activists were injured in the clash that took place over the issue of the May 13 conflict.

On May 31, police were again called to the village to contain a violent clash between the two parties. According to locals, there was a confrontation between UML supporters and security personnel as the latter attempted to detain the accused UML activists.