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Krishna Adhikari

Krishna Adhikari On 6 June 2004, Krishna Prasad Adhikari, a resident of Fujel village of Gorkha District, was murdered in Chitwan District by Maoist cadres. Krishna Prasad was visiting his grandparents after having taken the SLC examinations, and he was abducted from Bakullahar Chowk by men who came on a motorcycle ...
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Maina Sunuwar

Maina Sunuwar Around 6 am on February 17, 2004, a group of RNA soldiers arrested Ms Maina Sunuwar, a 15-year-old schoolgirl of Kharelthok VDC-6, Kavre district. She disappeared since her arrest. Her family members, with support from villagers and school where Maina was a student, visited detention centers ...
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Sanjeev Kumar Karna

Sanjeev Kumar Karna Sanjeev Kumar Karna was one among the 11 persons arrested on October 8, 2003. On that fateful day, they had gone to attend a picnic program organized by the students at a place called Kariyachauri VDC-4, and from picnic, they went to Kataiya Chowri Area of Dhanusha district where they ate some food ...
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Arjun Bahadur Lama

Arjun Bahadur Lama, 48 years in age, permanent resident of Chhatrebas VDC -5, Dapcha in Kavre district was abducted by a group of Maoist cadres, three in number, on 29 April 2005 (2062.1.16 BS) from the premises of Sri Krishna Secondary School at Chhatrebas VDC-1 of the district.
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Hari Prasad Bolakhe

Hari Prasad Bolakhe, 35 (while missing) a permanent resident of Phulbari VDC-8, Kavre district, a pastor by profession, had been missing since the arrest December 27, 2003, was reportedly killed by security persons. A team of National Human Rights Commission discovered a human skeleton in a jungle ...
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Sarala Sapkota

Around 11 p.m. on July 15, 2004, a group of 12 armed soldiers arrested Sarala Sapkota at her grandfather’s house. The family, who witnessed the arrest, stated that soldiers gave Sarala no reason for her arrest. After her arrest, Sarala’s family went to Baireni barracks and the DPO ...
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Birendra Shah

On the evening of 5 October 2007, Mr. Birendra Shah, 34, resident of Inruwasira VDC-8, Bara district, a local journalist of Bara district and correspondent of Nepal FM, Avenues Television and Dristi weekly, was abducted by Maoists from Pipara Bazaar in Kalaiya, the district headquarters of Bara ...
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Bishwanath Parajuli, Tom Nath Poudel and Dhan Bahadur Tamang

Three persons namely Bishwonath Parajuli (also called Nagendra Parajuli), Tom Nath Poudel and Dhan Bahadur Tamang of Hasandaha VDC, Morang were shot dead by the security personnel on 28 September 2004. According to the eyewitnesses, other victims and the villagers, about 16 people were arrested ...
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Chot Nath Ghimire and Shekhar Nath Ghimire

Chot Nath Ghimire, a 58-year-old farmer, resident of Ishaneshor VDC-4, Ratamate Majhpokhari of Lamjung district was allegedly arrested by the Joint Security Forces of Joint Security Camp stationed at Bhorlatar VDC, Lamjung district on February 2, 2002 (2058.10.20). The security camp called Mr. ...
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Bhauna Tharu

Bhauna Tharu (Bhauna Chaudhary in the citizenship card), 21 years old male (at the time of the incident; Date of Birthe: 8 September 1978), son of Purna Bahadur Chaudhary, permanent resident of Sujanpur village, Neulapur VDC-4, Bardiya district, and an employee of Rastriya Gobar Gas, Gulariya, ...
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Close Encounters

Stories from the Frontline of Human Rights Work in Nepal

Close Encounters
During Nepal’s armed conflict and its aftermath, human rights violations not only scarred and destroyed the victims but had a devastating effect on the lives of human rights defenders.
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Bhauna Tharu

Bhauna Tharu (Bhauna Chaudhary in the citizenship card), 21 years old male (at the time of the incident; Date of Birthe: 8 September 1978), son of Purna Bahadur Chaudhary, permanent resident of Sujanpur village, Neulapur VDC-4, Bardiya district, and an employee of Rastriya Gobar Gas, Gulariya, Bardiya, was killed by the RNA soldiers from Thakurdwara army barracks on the 30th of May 2002 at about 1:15 AM in his own house whilst he was having lunch.
Victim's Details:
Name: Bhauna Tharu (Bhauna Chaudhary, according to citizenship card)
Date of Incident: May 30, 2002
Age: 21
Address: Neulapur Village Development Committeee-2, Sujanpur, Bardiya District.

Perpetrators Details:
1. Parasu Kumal, Nepal Army, who was deployed at the Ranaser Battalion, Thakurdwara Army Barracks, Bardiya District.

Summary: Bhauna Tharu (Bhauna Chaudhary in the citizenship card), 21 years old male (at the time of the incident; Date of Birthe: 8 September 1978), son of Purna Bahadur Chaudhary, permanent resident of Sujanpur village, Neulapur VDC-4, Bardiya district, and an employee of Rastriya Gobar Gas, Gulariya, Bardiya, was killed by the RNA soldiers from Thakurdwara army barracks on the 30th of May 2002 at about 1:15 AM in his own house whilst he was having lunch.

Whilst he was having lunch with his family, two army soldiers entered the kitchen and one soldier named Parashu Ram Kumal of Sukhad village, Thakurdwara VDC, Bardiya, at once shot him in his right flank, without any warnings.  After that, the soldiers got the family members out of the house saying that they would take Bhauna to hospital for treatment. However, within five minutes again the same soldier shot him in his shoulder near the neck from the front window of the house and killed him on the spot. The soldiers headed towards the barrack after killing him.

The family members and the villagers cremated the body the next day at the nearby river. When the father went to DAO to lodge complaint, he was rebuked by CDO saying that his son would not have been killed by the soldiers had he not been a Maoist. According to the villagers, Bhauna was an innocent person.

Details of the Incident and Developments: At 1:15 p.m. on May 30, 2002, Bhauna Tharu was killed at his house in Sujanpur village, Neulapur VDC-4 in the Bardiya District. A group of soldiers had arrived in the locality at around 1 p.m, after chasing a suspected Maoist. According to witnesses, who were mostly Bhauna’s family members, two of the soldiers entered Bhauna’s house and shot him dead. The family was able to identify the suspects as being army personnel from Thakurdwara Army Barracks in Bardiya District. They recognized one of them as Parasu Kumal, whose family lived in the village. They were not able to obtain the other soldier’s name. The family cremated Bhauna’s body the following day at a nearby river. When Bhauna’s father went to the District Administration Office to lodge a complaint on June 13, 2002, the CDO rejected it claiming that Bhauna “would not have been killed by the soldiers had he not been a Maoist.” The family claims that Bhauna was not a Maoist.

A month after the incident, two men, dressed in civilian clothes, approached the victim’s father and asked him to sign documents confirming that his son was a Maoist. In return they offered him NRs10,000. Bhauna’s father refused the money but did not lodge a complaint with the Takurdwara Army Barracks due to fear of reprisals from the army. Bhauna’s father registered a complaint with the NHRC’s regional office and with the ICRC’s regional office in Nepalgunj, Banke District, on October 24, 2005.

Official Action: On July 24, 2006, the DPO registered a FIR in the presence of Advocacy Forum lawyers and OHCHR-Nepal representatives. Earlier that day, the DPO had refused to register the complaint. After a meeting with the CDO and district public prosecutor, the CDO ordered the DPO to register it. The DPO wrote two letters to the Thakurdwara Barracks, requesting officials to identify the suspects. The barracks responded but without providing the details requested by DPO. The DPO, Bardiya, on November 19, 2006, wrote once again to Thakurdwara Barracks asking for details of the suspects. As of August 2008, the barracks had not responded to the DPO.

Update (September 2009): On June 18, 2009, a petition of mandamus was filed at the Nepalgunj Appellate Court by the victim's family. The court issued a “show cause notice.”

Around the time the court gave this order, the DPO Bardiya sent letters to the witnesses specified in the FIR. Those people appeared at the DPO and gave their statements. After the court received replies from the respondents, a hearing was scheduled for September 13, 2009 but it could not take place as the court ran out of time.
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