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🇳🇵 Nepal /Crime & Justice

Religious flag dispute turns deadly in Nepal border village

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • A dispute over a religious flag and a loudspeaker in Kaptanganj, Nepal, escalated into violence, resulting in three deaths.
  • The violence involved clashes between Hindu and Muslim communities, with one victim killed by police firing and another's home burned by a mob.
  • The incident is unprecedented in the village, which had no prior history of communal conflict.

A dispute over a religious flag and a loudspeaker in Kaptanganj, a border village in Nepal, erupted into violence that claimed three lives and shattered the community's long-standing peace. The village, located in Dewanganj Rural Municipality near the Indian border, had no history of Hindu-Muslim conflict until the events of July 26.

I’ll be there soon

— Om Prakash MehtaOm Prakash's last words to his father before he was shot.

Om Prakash Mehta, 31, was killed by police firing after he went to the scene of rising tensions at Kaptanganj Chowk. His father, Krishnadev, tried to prevent him from going, but Om Prakash did not listen. He was shot around 10 pm and later died at a hospital in Biratnagar.

Om Prakash has been shot

— Om Prakash's friendThe message Krishnadev received after gunfire erupted.

On the other side of the village, 72-year-old Mohammad Tahir Miyan witnessed his own home being set ablaze by an angry mob the following afternoon, July 27, during an imposed curfew. While those inside escaped, two of his sons' houses and a straw pile were destroyed. "We had always lived like brothers," Tahir said, struggling to comprehend the sudden turn of events.

As soon as I heard it, I lost consciousness

— Krishnadev MehtaOm Prakash's father, reacting to the news of his son's death.

Two other individuals, Jay Prakash Mehta, 21, and Ganesh Yadav, 15, also died from gunshot injuries in the aftermath. The shared account from families of both Hindu and Muslim communities underscores the shock and disbelief, as they stated, "Nothing like this had ever happened here."

They began sprinkling petrol and set the house on fire

— Mohammad Tahir MiyanDescribing the attack on his home during the curfew.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Kathmandu Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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