Kathandu/ The Rukum (West) District Court has handed down life sentences to 24 individuals involved in the lynching of six youths, including Navaraj BK, in Chaurjahari-8, Rukum. Following the completion of the final hearing, presided over by Judge Khadak Bahadur KC, the court also sentenced Navaraj’s girlfriend and mother to two years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on them for caste discrimination. The two had been previously released on bail.
Among those receiving life sentences are Dambar Bahadur Malla, the former ward chairman of Chaurjahari-8, and the father and brothers of Navaraj’s girlfriend. The incident unfolded when Navaraj, a 21-year-old from Bheri municipality 4, Jajarkot, along with 18 others, attempted to elope with his 17-year-old girlfriend from Chaurjahari-8, Soti, on May 23, 2020. The bodies of the six youths from Jajarkot were later discovered in the Bheri river, marking the border between Jajarkot and Western Rukum.
The court determined that the lynching was driven by caste-based motivations, with Navaraj belonging to the Dalit community and the girl being from the Malla caste.