The murder of 22-year-old Rajendra Paudel in Kaski has become a vivid example of how far intoxication, a moment of anger and a minor argument can go.
A group of young men were drinking together for fun. The dispute that grew out of it, and the revenge that followed, cost Rajendra of Machhapuchchhre Rural Municipality-7 his life. Five people are now in police custody.
On the evening of October 25, Lil Bahadur Pun, Ashish Gurung, Mahadev BK and Milan BK, all from the same village, were sitting together and drinking alcohol. Rajendra also arrived there, and a minor dispute began among them in that same atmosphere, according to the police’s preliminary investigation.
Before that, Rajendra’s sister and brother-in-law had visited his home. Rajendra looked for his missing mobile phone but could not find it, so he asked his brother-in-law, Bishnu Prasad Gautam, for his phone. When Gautam refused, an angry Rajendra smashed the phone and left. Still furious, he went to the place where Lil Bahadur and the other young men were drinking.
According to Kaski Superintendent of Police Nabin Karki, the conversation deteriorated, and Rajendra, who was enraged, kicked Lil Bahadur’s beehive. The situation became even more tense.
Rajendra went back home, but returned in anger, this time carrying a sickle. During the dispute, he struck out with it. Milan BK was injured in the neck and Ashish Gurung was injured in the leg.
The group managed to hold back their anger for the moment and went their separate ways. But those who had been struck were still seething with revenge.
“He attacked us with such a sickle. We became helpless before him,” they said, and called some young men in the village.
Later, another call was made. It appears that five people gathered, went to Rajendra’s house and attacked him with rods, sticks and other objects, Karki said.
“Alcohol-fuelled dispute and revenge cost one man his life, and five people are in custody for investigation,” he said.
The anger of that evening did not settle with the intoxication but flared up as revenge. According to Kaski police spokesperson Birendra Kumar Paswan, Ashish Gurung called Bikram Pun and Lil Bahadur Pun at around 11:59 pm. Milan BK, Mahadev BK, Ashish, Bikram and Lilbahadur then went to Rajendra’s house together, saying, “We must not let him go now.”
Paswan said they brutally attacked Rajendra, who was sleeping at home, with bamboo rods, fists and kicks.
After inflicting bruises and deep wounds all over his body, they dragged the injured Rajendra to a terrace field about 50 metres east of the house and left him there.
At night, Rajendra asked his mother for a quilt and lay down in the same field covered with it. However, the cold of the night and his injuries meant that he did not wake up in the morning.
The police were informed that locals had found Rajendra’s body, naked, in a terrace field near his own home.
As soon as the information was received, a team from Dhampus Police Post reached the scene and secured it. Given the seriousness of the incident, a special investigation team from the Provincial Police Office in Pokhara, the District Police Office in Kaski and the Ward Police Office in Bagar was mobilised to the scene to begin the investigation.
Based on the preliminary investigation, police have arrested five people. With the court’s permission, they have extended the detention by five days and are conducting further investigation. The detained are Bikram Pun, 30, Ashish Gurung, 23, Mahadev BK, 30, Milan BK, 30, and Lilbahadur Pun, 38, all of Dhampus-7.
The incident has left the entire village of Dhampus in shock. Rajendra worked as a tourist porter.
“Drinking jaad and quarrelling had happened before, but this time a tragic incident took place. It has left the whole village in shock,” said resident and former ward chair Sombahadur Gurung.
