Murders over petty disputes on rise in Kathmandu Valley

KATHMANDU, Sep 16: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley last night. The bodies of four people were found with injuries caused by sharp weapons.

The exact reason behind the murder is yet to be ascertained. However, trained policepersons and dogs are mobilized to investigate the incident from all possible angles, according to Additional Inspector General Deepak Thapa, Chief of Kathmandu Valley Police Office. 

Similarly, another excruciating murder occurred in Kapan, Kathmandu on April 20 early this year. A 35-year-old woman running a gift shop was murdered in her own shop. There was no involvement of a big gang. The incident took place in a common case of robbery, according to SSP Dinesh Acharya of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police. 

Police arrested the murderer on the 11th day of the killing and proceeded with a murder case against him at the court.

A 90-year-old man from Tarkeshwor Municipality-6 of Kathmandu district was found murdered on December 6 last year. The dead body of the elderly was located in a stream inside a community forest of ward no 3 in the municipality. 

A local youth was arrested and charged with the case of murder of the elderly. 

There are representative murder cases emanating out of petty issues involving disputes in monetary dealing, robbery and personal vengeance. 

In the last fiscal year 2022/23, out of 500 murder cases reported to police, 38 were from the Kathmandu Valley alone. Similarly, of the total 982 attempted murder cases, 136 were reported from Kathmandu alone. 

Similarly, in the corresponding year, the country witnessed 590 murders. Among them, 50 took place in Kathmandu. Out of 1,079 attempted murder cases recorded all over the country, 136 occurred in the Kathmandu Valley alone. 

Additional Inspector General Kuber Kadayat, also the Spokesperson of Nepal Police, said that many of such murders recorded in the Kathmandu Valley were due to personal vengeance as well as inability to put up with general matters.  

AIG Kadayat viewed the preliminary investigation and suggested that today's murder at Tinkune might have caused due to vengeance. 

Similarly, SSP Mainali commented, "People have become intolerant lately. They do not seem to tolerate any minor unusual issue/incident. People are affected by many factors. Foreign employment is ever-increasing, and so is the nuclear family. Economic and educational issues are among others taking a toll on people."

Exposure to the outer world through social networking sites is also causing stress, he analyzed, that people easily tend to accept the negative side while neglecting the good ones.

"The society is deteriorating due to activities conducted out of impulse," he assessed, emphasizing that moral education is an urgent need of the hour.