Triggering mistrust

The police must be sensitised on the need of exercising maximum restraint during public protests.

A three-member committee formed to investigate police firing in Sarlahi District's Barahathawa, in the first week of January, has recommended action against the erring police officer. On January 5, Jaya Shankar Sah, 29, was killed when police havaldar Sonelal Yadav opened fire during a protest as locals of Barahathawa Municipality called for upgrading the local primary health centre. The municipality’s executive committee meeting on September 26, 2023 had decided to upgrade the 15-bed primary health centre to a 50-bed hospital and hand it over to the Madhesh provincial government. However, the municipality backtracked on its decision, sparking protests . The protesters had set a thatched house on the premises of the Barahathawa Area Police Office on fire, and the police had responded by lobbing teargas shells and firing into the air, ultimately killing Sah.