When a 17-year-old girl from Rukum West came to her house for the first time in January, Urmila BK of Jajarkot thought she was her daughter’s friend.
But on the third day of her stay the girl told her she was in fact the friend of her 21-year-old son Nabaraj. The girl, from an ‘upper caste’ Thakuri family then started frequenting the Dalit household.
“I was suspicious that an unmarried girl was sleeping over at our house so regularly. I scolded my son and told the girl not to come back again, but she didn’t stop,” Urmila recalls.
Eventually, Urmila found out that the girl belonged to an ‘upper caste’ Malla family from Chaurjhari village in Rukum. Because she was fearful of the societal backlash for her son’s inter-caste relationship, she told him to take the girl back to her home immediately.
Little did she know that her fear would soon turn to grief in what would be one of the most deadly acts of caste discrimination in Nepal.
Untouched even by the untouchables, Sagun S Lowati
Dalit doubts, Mitra Pariyar
On 24 May, Nabaraj with 19 of his friends set out for Rukum to get the girl to elope with him. Nabaraj was on the phone with her throughout the two-hour walk, but when they reached the girl’s home in Chaujhari, they were suddenly attacked by villagers armed with sickles and hoes.
Nabaraj and friends Tikaram BK and Ganesh Budha were beaten to death, and their bodies were found by the banks of the Bheri River.
“We had accompanied Nabaraj to bring back the girl and celebrate their union with a feast. But the whole village attacked us, pelting stones and beating us,” recalled Sudip Khadka who saved himself by jumping into the raging river.
But even after swimming across the Bheri, the villagers from Chaujhari crossed the bridge and continued the attack until the police rescued him. Khadka thinks someone tipped off the girl’s family and the locals were waiting in ambush as they got near Chaujhari.
“Some of us ran away and jumped into the river to save ourselves, others were beaten mercilessly,” he said. In trying to save his own life, he lost track of friends. Khadka was taken to Chaurjahari Mission Hospital and is now home after two days of treatment.
“Untouchability is not only a problem of dalits“
Saroj Bhadel who had also accompanied Nabaraj says six of the group were beaten and thrown into the river. Although three of the bodies have been recovered, three others are still missing.
Nabaraj’s family filed a complaint at the Jajarkot police station on Tuesday against 20 villagers from Sotigaun, including the ward chair Dilliram Malla, the parents of the girl Bir Bahadur and Prakashi Malla as well as the girl herself who are all in custody.
Nabaraj was an avid volleyball and football player, and was first introduced to the girl three years ago during a sports championship.
Disastrous discrimination, Patrick Barron
Dalits not allowed, Laurie Ann Vasily
The girl’s family also knew about their affair and had warned Nabaraj to keep away from her. Following this, the girl had stopped coming to Nabaraj’s house for some time, but they frequently talked on the phone.
Last month, the girl’s family even took Nabaraj to the local police station where his parents were called in, and the matter was settled after a written statement that they would end the inter-caste relationship.
But that does not seem to have deterred the young lovers. In fact, the girl with her younger brother visited Nabaraj at his home on his birthday earlier this month. Not long after that, the girl informed Nabaraj that her family was planning to marry her off to someone else and he should come and get her.
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