Balkumari Dahal, a student at Mitrapark-based Pashupati Multiple Campus, was hit by a mini-truck (Ba 1 Kha 9112) in front of Om Hospital at around 9:15am while she was returning home after her classes. Doctors pronounced her dead upon being rushed to the hospital.

Truck driver Prem Bahadur Tamang, 27, who had fled the scene after the accident, was later arrested from Pepsicola at 1:20pm.

Following the accident, Pashupati Campus students staged demonstrations demanding action against the guilty and efforts to control reckless driving in Valley.

Protesters turned violent and started vandalising vehicles for defying their strike. Windshields and window screens of several buses, microbuses, and tempos were smashed. A few bikes were also knocked down.

“We are not just enraged,” a protesting student said as he was moving with other protesters towards Chabahil Chowk. “We are enraged for she was one of our own.”

Police were soon called into action to bring the situation under control. Traffic movement resumed after 10:30am. Locals said around 100 police personnel and 200 protestors clashed as students started demonstrations.

Dahal, a permanent resident of Tikutar-7 in Okhaldhunga, was living in a rented room in Saraswatinagar. She was recently enrolled in the first year of BBS programme in the campus. One of her classmates said she was very friendly and good at studies. “How should we contact her parents back home?” a student said.

The protesters, however, said they will not end their agitation until justice is served. “We will not calm down unless her family members and friends are satisfied by police investigation and provided with proper compensation,” said Ramesh Khadka, Nepal Student Union president in the campus. “There will be a bigger fracas in Chabahil tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Dahal’s body was taken to Maharajgunj-based TU Teaching Hospital for post-mortem. “As the driver has already been arrested, investigations will begin tomorrow,” Assistant Sub-Inspector Ram Saran Lama said. He said the driver has admitted to have absconded after the accident fearing his own death at the hands of enraged locals.