“Like We Are Not Nepali”

to the place where they say Dharmaraj Singh fell, and it is not close to any police station.
They also identified a spot around 200 meters away, across a swampy open ground, from
which they believe the fatal shot was fired. They described the police opening fire at about
2 p.m. without warning, scattering people, many of whom were not involved in any protest.
According to a witness,
I was there. A bullet missed me by a few meters. We were on a motorcycle
and they started shooting. I nearly caught [a bullet] myself. One person
from Manyari was shot in the head. Another boy from this neighborhood
was shot near his face. I was right behind them. 46
According to a local resident, a man named Prajwal Tiwari was shot in the face or neck
while standing beside Dharmaraj Singh. He was taken to Kathmandu for treatment. Three
others were also reportedly injured by gunfire in the same incident.
A fourth man, Soham Sah Kalwar, 25, was killed that day in the Naguwa neighborhood.
According to the CDO he died while trying to snatch a gun from a police officer, although
the CDO said it was not clear whether the weapon discharged accidentally or was
deliberately fired. According to numerous witnesses at the scene interviewed by Human
Rights Watch, between 100 and 200 protesters were fleeing as about a dozen police
advanced down an alley. 47 According to local residents who watched from inside their
homes, Soham Sah Kalwar was shot by a member of the APF who was steadying himself
while taking aim by standing against an electricity pole. The victim was about 40 meters
away, watching the advancing police while attempting to take cover at a corner of the lane,
behind which other protesters were also hiding. He was shot in the forehead. Photographs
of his body lying in the street appear to corroborate this version of events. 48
46 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld), Birgunj, September 18, 2015.
47 Human Rights Watch interviews (names withheld), Birgunj, September 19, 2015.
48 “Birgunj protest: Four killed in police firing, dozen injured,” Kathmandu Post, September 1, 2015,
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2015-09-01/police-fires-at-protesters-after-curfew-defied-in-birgunj.html; Ram
Sarraf, “Birgunj protester killed as police open fire for defying curfew,” Himalayan Times, September 1, 2015,
http://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/birgunj-protester-killed-as-police-open-fire-for-defying-curfew/; Fred Lambert,
“Nepalese police shoot and kill five protesters of draft constitution,” United Press International, September 1, 2015,
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/09/01/Nepalese-police-shoot-and-kill-five-protesters-of-draftconstitution/7601441138240/
(accessed September 29, 2015). It is important to note that due to the limited scope and
quality of media coverage, relatively few media items covering the incidents described in this report are available, and most
contain several inaccuracies.
“LIKE WE ARE NOT NEPALI” 28