“Like We Are Not Nepali”

Summary
They fired teargas shells, scared the children. Everyone here is very scared,
scared of the police. The women and children don’t want to go out of
the house. We are being treated inhumanely, like second-class citizens.
Like we are not Nepalis, like we’re criminals or terrorists.
–A witness of police violence in Mahottari district, September 2015
If an APF [Armed Police Force] personnel is obstructed from discharging his
duties or is physically attacked, he may use necessary or final force in order
to defend self, maintain law and order and to arrest the attacker.
–Section 8, article 58(3) of the Nepali government's July 7 Armed Police
Force regulation
On September 11, 2015, police used teargas and opened fire on a group of protesters who
were walking through the Mills Area neighborhood on their way toward the center of
Janakpur, a town in southern Nepal. Bullet marks on the houses testify to the use of live
ammunition. According to residents, police chased fleeing protesters into residential
compounds and attacked them there, even opening fire inside one man’s home.
Fourteen-year-old Nitu Yadav was among the protesters. He attempted to hide from the
police in some bushes. Four separate eyewitnesses described what happened next. In
front of onlookers he was dragged from his hiding place by police officers, thrown to the
ground, and, while an officer stood on his legs, shot dead in the face at point-blank range.
Doctors who subsequently examined Yadav’s body confirmed that it bore injuries
consistent with this account.
Another protester, Sanjay Chaudhari, was hiding nearby. According to witnesses, he was
shot in the back moments later as he attempted to flee. He died shortly after reaching
hospital.
Approximately 45 people were killed in the violent protests staged over Nepal’s new
constitution during the months of August and September, almost all of which took place in
1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | OCTOBER 2015