Govt agrees to declare Balkumari incident victims as martyrs

KATHMANDU: The government has agreed to initiate the process of declaring two youths, who lost their lives in the Balkumari incident on Friday, as martyrs.

Relatives of Birendra Shah and Sujan Raut signed an agreement with government authorities on Monday.

As per the agreement, the next of kin of both victims will receive compensation of Rs 1 million each, while authorities have agreed to arrange job opportunities for one member from each family and facilitate additional compensation to the victims’ families as needed.

After signing the agreement, the family members have agreed to receive the bodies.

Umakanta Adhikari, the undersecretary at the home ministry, signed the agreement on behalf of the government, while Birendra’s father Tek Bahadur and Sujan’s maternal uncle Tek Bahadur Katuwal signed the agreement on behalf of the victims.

Birendra Shah of Achham and Sujan Rawat of Dailekh lost their lives when police used force to disperse the agitating youths in Balkumari of Lalitpur on Friday.