“Like We Are Not Nepali”

According to some witnesses, before he fell he was hit by another bullet, although not
everyone who claimed to have seen the event could verify this. Numerous witnesses agree,
however, on what happened next. With many people reportedly looking on, the police
surrounded Hifajat Miya, who was lying injured on the ground, and a senior officer, who
has been publicly named in the region, took a gun from a subordinate and shot the injured
man in the chest.
This allegation appears to be supported by a video filmed through the window of a
neighboring building. 51 The video shows Hifajat Miya lying on the ground moving slightly.
Police can be seen on the road around him, making obscene pelvic gestures, apparently
toward the protesters, who are not visible in the frame. A journalist in a fluorescent yellow
jacket can be seen among the police, taking photographs. A group of police then forms a
circle around Hifajat Miya, who is lying on his back, obscuring him from the camera’s view.
Three gunshots are then heard. When Hifajat Miya is next visible he is not moving. Shortly
afterward an ambulance appears and Hifajat Miya’s now limp body is picked up and
placed inside, then driven away.
Around the same time as the incident in which Hifajat Miya died, members of the police
entered a number of houses in the Ghanta Ghar area and attacked residents inside their
own homes. One victim was Hira Das Baniya, 82, who was sleeping in the downstairs
passage of his house when he was beaten on the head with the butt of a gun. He says he
sustained a three-inch gash in his scalp, which required eight stitches. 52
Mahottari District
September 9 Incident
On September 9 protesters gathered in the Mahendra Chowk area in the center of Jaleswar,
the headquarters town of Mahottari district. Four people were shot dead by the police.
According to journalists residing in the town, representatives of the protesters had met
with the police earlier to assure them that the protest would not be violent. However,
51 “Excessive use of force in Kalaiya,” video clip, YouTube, September 10, 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxlmTiFWb5w (accessed September 29, 2015). Human Rights Watch showed this video
to eyewitnesses who corroborated it.
52 Human Rights Watch interview with Hira Das Baniya, Kalaiya, September 19, 2015.
“LIKE WE ARE NOT NEPALI” 30