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How frequent do murders take place in Nepal?

Gajendra Basnet

November 9, 2020

7 MIN READ

How frequent do murders take place in Nepal?

KATHMANDU: The news of murder and crime against humanity grieves every humane soul irrespective of the intent of the murderer.

The frequency of murder tells how much society values humanity.

The statistics at the Police Headquarters tell that starting from three fiscal years back and till now of this fiscal year, the police have registered as many as 2,039 murder cases.

The comparison of the case tally shows that FY 2019/20 has seen less such heinous crimes related to murder than the FY 2017/18 and 2019/19. However, the first few months of running FY show the murder cases on the rise again.

Two murder cases in a day 

The statistics at the Police Headquarters show that in the last three and a half months, the country has seen 197 murder cases.

Bhadra (August 17- September 16) saw the highest number of cases in this fiscal year. There had been 61 murder cases in this month-long period whereas Shrawan (July 16-August 15) witnessed 57 and Aswin (September 17-October 16) saw cases.

The first 15 days of Kartik (October 17- October 31) have already seen 26 cases of murder.

According to SSP Kuber Kadayat, the Spokesperson of Nepal Police says that Nepal sees 2 murder cases in a day on average.

“The murder trend shows that most of the murders here are committed from the relatives and acquaintances,” spokesperson Kadayat said.

Murder cases in the country

The data also show the highest number of murder cases in Province 1 and 2. In the data of the last 3 fiscal years and the first quarter of this fiscal year, Province 1 and 2 reported 399 murder cases.

In the same period, Lumbini and Bagmati State reported 356 and 242 cases respectively. There have been 161 murder cases in the capital valley alone.

Likewise, according to the Headquarters’ data, there have been 176 cases in Gandaki and 171 cases in Sudurpaschim Province. Karnali Province has relatively fewer cases.

There have been 135 murder cases in Karnali, which is 244 cases less than in Province 1 and 2 cases.

Kathmandu valley sees 5 murders in a month

The police statistics show that the three districts of the capital valley — Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur — alone see five murder cases every month.

In the last 3 and half months of this fiscal year, there have been 13 murders in the valley.

The first month of the fiscal year Shrawan (July 16-August 15) saw 5 murder cases whereas succeeding two months Bhadra (August 16-September 16) and Aswin (September 17- October 16) saw 4 and 3 such cases respectively.

In the first 15 days of Kartik i.e. in the duration between October 17 to 31, there has been one case of murder in the valley. The valley had seen 148 murder cases in the past three fiscal years.

Murders in the valley

The data shows that there had been 53 bloodshed robbery and murder cases in the valley in the fiscal year 2017/18.

The number reached 60 in the succeeding year that is in 2018/19. The murder case in Kathmandu decreased in 2019/20, the year saw only 35 such cases.

Minor disputes lead to murder

The police record shows that most of the murder cases are committed by relatives and the acquaintances

“Most of the cases are found to have been originated from minor misunderstanding and dispute,” SSP Kadayat said, “Illicit sexual relationship, extramarital relationship, the attempt to hide such illicit relationship, financial transactions, rows and the murder in inducing are the main reasons behind the murder.”

In the Terai region, such murders are caused due to disputes over boundary and water channels. Sometimes, killings occur just because of incitement.

Former AIG of Nepal Police Devendra Subedi regards disputes related to transactions and the illegal relationship as the main cause of the murder in Nepal.

“Inability to control the impulse, disputes over transactions and the attempts to cover illegal relationships are main causes of murder,” he told Khabarhub.

Criminologist Madhav Acharya points out that high ambitions and the financial crisis have been making people less humane.

“The society is becoming cruel gradually. Together with high ambition, the reluctance is increasing as well,” Acharya spoke to Khabarhub, “When people are blindfolded by greed and high ambition they are likely to commit a heinous crime like murder.”

What is interesting is most of the murders are committed by the acquaintance and relatives.

“It’s the relatives and acquaintances who annoy a person, so they are likely to provoke someone for murder,” Acharya explained the mystery, “When a person is annoyed they want to take revenge, hence, it’s often one of the relatives or acquaintance who causes or commits the murder.”

According to former DIG Hemanta Malla, the cases of crimes are related to the psyche rather than the number.

“What is important is the human psychology and sense of security; although the murder rate in the USA is higher than in Nepal, the citizens feel safer there,” Malla told Khabarhub, “However, here, a single case of murder adversely impacts the psyche of the people.”

Are there measures to curb such heinous crimes?

Scholars observing the increasing trend of crimes hail public awareness as a must to curb the crimes.

“The most effective measures required for mitigation of crime are enhancing public awareness and helping people control their anger,” criminologist Acharya served the way out, “There should be public awareness for anger control and social management.”

Former DIG Malla also reiterates the need to promote moral education as a means to curb crime cases.

“Moral education has to be promoted from the beginning and the youths should be awarded jobs and opportunities,” he added.

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