Login

Forget Password?
Login With Facebook
Don't Have An Account? Sign Up

Sign Up

Already Have An Account? Login
Read Our Privacy Policy
Back to Login
  • National
  • Politics
  • Valley
  • Opinion
  • Money
  • Sports
  • Culture & Lifestyle

  • National
    • Madhesh Province
    • Lumbini Province
    • Bagmati Province
    • National Security
    • Koshi Province
    • Gandaki Province
    • Karnali Province
    • Sudurpaschim Province
  • Politics
  • Valley
    • Kathmandu
    • Lalitpur
    • Bhaktapur
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • As it is
    • Letters
    • Editorial
    • Cartoon
  • Money
  • Sports
    • Cricket
    • Football
    • International Sports
  • Culture & Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Brunch with the Post
    • Movies
    • Life & Style
    • Theater
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Fashion
  • Health
  • Food
    • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Investigations
  • Climate & Environment
  • World
  • Science & Technology
  • Interviews
  • Visual Stories
  • Crosswords & Sudoku
  • Horoscope
  • Forex
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Today's ePaper
Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Without Fear or FavourUNWIND IN STYLE

21.45°C Kathmandu
Air Quality in Kathmandu: 42
300+Hazardous
0-50Good
51-100Moderate
101-150Unhealty for Sensitive Groups
151-200Unhealthy
201-300Very Unhealthy
Wed, Jul 30, 2025
21.45°C Kathmandu
Air Quality in Kathmandu: 42
  • What's News :

  • Nepal’s steel exports
  • Nepal’s tiger conservation efforts
  • Bayalpata Hospital takeover
  • Faecal coliform contamination
  • Disputes over land bill

Madhesh Province

Killing of a Madhesi brings age-old question to the fore: when can the police fire a live bullet?

The country’s law enforcement agency fails to exercise restraint during protests in Madhes, rights activists say. Killing of a Madhesi brings age-old question to the fore: when can the police fire a live bullet?
Saroj Mahato was shot and killed by the police on Sunday. Photo via Facebook
bookmark
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • Whatsapp
  • mail
Tika R Pradhan & Om Prakash Thakur
Published at : July 2, 2019
Updated at : July 3, 2019 11:35
Kathmandu

On Sunday afternoon, when residents of Ishwarpur in Sarlahi decided to gather on the East-West Highway to protest the death of a minor, Saroj Mahato was at the small restaurant he had started just last year.

A day earlier, a 12-year-old boy had died after falling into a 30-foot sand pit in the Banke river, and villagers were furious. The pit had formed due to illegal sand mining, according to local residents, under the protection of their elected representatives and the police.

By the time Mahato joined the protest, hundreds of people had gathered along the highway, demanding a halt to the illegal excavation of sand and stones from the river and compensation for the boy’s family.

But things quickly turned tragic. As the demonstration got larger, police fired live rounds at the protesters. Mahato, who was known to villagers as Kebal, was struck by a bullet on his head and died on the spot.

Mahato’s killing on Sunday, once again, has brought to the fore how the country’s law enforcement agency fails to exercise restraint, human rights activists say, and quickly resorts to firing live rounds when it comes to protests in the country’s southern plains.

“We are shocked by the gross human rights violations in this case,” Gyanendra Yadav, Province 2’s minister for internal affairs and law, told the Post over the phone on Monday.

Following the killing, an all-party meeting called by the District Coordination Committee on Monday demanded a judicial investigation into the incident and compensation for Mahato’s family.

“The family and villagers have said they will not receive the body until their demands are met,” said Pramod Shah, a provincial assembly member of Province 2. “The Chief District Officer has assured us that he will take initiatives to address our demands."

Activists have drawn attention to repeated instances in the past when the Nepal Police resorted to excessive force and indiscriminate firing when it came to protests in the Tarai.

In 2015, during the months-long demonstrations against the constitution, more than 40 people were killed in violent protests—15 protesters were shot dead by the police, according to Human Rights Watch.

Similarly, in the months leading up to the 2017 parliamentary elections, police had opened fire on protesters during an election-related fracas involving the then Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha and the then CPN-UML. Five people were killed.

“Incidents of excessive use of force have been increasing in the Tarai,” said Charan Prasai, a human rights activist. “In many similar incidents in the past, victims were shot in the head. This shows that either the government has deployed untrained police personnel or the killing was intentional.”

Numerous reports by both national and international human rights organisations have detailed how the Nepal Police handles protests and treats citizens differently, depending on their ethnicities.

A recent report by Advocacy Forum, a human rights organisation, stated that communities from the Tarai, primarily Madhesis and Tharus, face higher rates of torture and violence while in police custody.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Pradhyumna Karki, chief of police in Province 2, however, defended the police action on the grounds that the situation had “gone out of control”.

After firing 15 rounds of tear gas shells, police also fired rubber bullets before firing into the air, said Karki. Protesters also hurled stones at security personnel.

“Security personnel were compelled to use force as they were left with no option. Several police personnel had been injured,” Karki told the Post.

But rights activists say the police did not follow due process.

“The authorities must prove that the situation was out of control,” said Gauri Pradhan, a human rights activist. “If such incidents continue, dissatisfaction among the public will only continue to increase.”

For activists, there are concerns over who authorised the police to open fire. Under Nepali law, the riot police are not authorised to independently fire live rounds on protestors.

According to Karki, such decisions are taken by the District Security Committee, which is led by the chief district officer; a lieutenant colonel from the Nepal Army; superintendents from the Nepali Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department; and an assistant chief district officer as the member secretary.

Sarlahi Chief District Officer Krishna Bahadur Raut, however, said that a field officer “had consulted with his supervisor”, who had given permission to fire on the crowd. Raut said that this too is correct due process, especially if officers believe that their lives are in danger.

For provincial government officials, decision-making over sensitive matters relating to security has long been a bone of contention, as they don’t have any representation on the security committee.

Federal and provincial governments have long been at odds over a proposed Police Bill, which provisions for chief district officers to “coordinate” security matters. Provincial governments have taken issue with this provision, as chief district officers are appointed by the federal government and are accountable to the Home Ministry in Kathmandu, not to the provincial internal affairs ministry. So provincial governments have no power of their own to mobilise police or to hold them to account.

Even as the police continued to justify their actions throughout Monday, Mahato’s family, including his wife and six-month-old son, was in mourning. Mahato had just returned from Qatar over a year ago and started his restaurant with his brother Manoj.

“Just before he was shot, Saroj was saying we should return home because the police had started using force,” Manoj told the Post. “We went to protest the death of a village boy due to government negligence and in the process, I lost my brother.”


Tika R Pradhan

Tika R Pradhan is a senior political correspondent for the Post, covering politics, parliament, judiciary and social affairs. Pradhan joined the Post in 2016 after working at The Himalayan Times for more than a decade.

Om Prakash Thakur

Om Prakash Thakur is the Sarlahi correspondent for Kantipur Publications.


Related News

Man kills teenage girl, injures two others in khukuri attack in Janakpur
Couple electrocuted in Saptari while charging e-rickshaw
Two die from electrocution in Rautahat
Police seize 133kg marijuana from car in Rautahat
Students protest exam centre relocation
Justice eludes loan-sharking victims as cases gather dust

Most Read from Madhesh Province

Madhesh government uses fire engines to supply drinking water as sources dry up
Chandrapur’s new bus terminal built to ease traffic congestion remains unused
Man kills teenage girl, injures two others in khukuri attack in Janakpur
Couple electrocuted in Saptari while charging e-rickshaw
Justice eludes loan-sharking victims as cases gather dust

Editor's Picks

Kailash pilgrims breathe new life into Nepal’s mountain economy
Pressure groups are dictating lawmaking
Indians paying by QR in Nepal for a year but Nepalis still lack access in India
UML weighs binning age, term limits amid Oli-Bhandari rivalry
Law in the works to check officials’ conflict of interest

E-PAPER | July 30, 2025

  • Read ePaper Online
×
ABOUT US
  • About the Post
  • Masthead
  • Editorial Standards & Integrity
  • Workplace Harassment Policy
  • Privacy Policy
READ US
  • Home Delivery
  • ePaper
CONTACT US
  • Write for the Post
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Advertise in the Post
  • Work for the Post
  • Send us a tip
INTERACT WITH US
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
OUR SISTER PUBLICATIONS
  • eKantipur
  • saptahik
  • Nepal
  • Nari
  • Radio Kantipur
  • Kantipur TV
© 2025 www.kathmandupost.com
  • Privacy Policy
Top