Saptari eviction leaves family homeless; 75-year-old woman dies amid distress

A routine public land clearance in Nepal's Saptari district has led to tragedy, leaving a family homeless and a 75-year-old woman dead. Ratni Devi Malahani's family alleges her death was a direct result of the distress caused by the demolition of their home and sheds on public land in Sakarpura settlement.

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

The family's ordeal began when the ward office issued a seven-day notice on May 4 to clear the land. Authorities arrived with a bulldozer on May 13, demolishing the structures belonging to Ratni Devi's sons, Parameshwar, Bindeshwar, and Laxmi Mukhiya, and their families. The displaced family has since been living under tarpaulins amidst the debris.

Family members reported that Ratni Devi became increasingly anxious and stopped eating properly after the demolition. Her son, Bindeshwar, stated, "After the house was demolished, mother was extremely worried. Seeing the children struggling under tarpaulins in the heat disturbed her deeply." She passed away on Thursday night after several days of poor food intake.

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We tried a lot to console her, but she could not reduce her worries. Even at the end, she kept asking where everyone would sit and sleep.

Adding to the grief and anger, Bindeshwar Mukhiya accused the ward chair of selective demolition for political revenge, claiming their family voted for a different party. He asserted that while most houses in the settlement are on public land, only theirs were targeted.

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We had voted for a different party. To take revenge for that, the ward chair demolished houses of seven families, including ours. Most houses here are on public land, but only ours were demolished.

However, ward chair Ramesh Kumar Mukhiya rejected the bias allegations. He explained that the drive focused on structures that remained after previous clearance efforts and that the cleared area has a budget allocated for building a temple and other structures this year. He also mentioned that the municipality is working to support the affected families.

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