This post examines the notable cases related to or suspected to be related to the then Royal family of Nepal.
Namita Sunita Murder Case (नमिता सुनिता हत्याकाण्ड)
In 1980, three schoolgirls (Namita Bhandari, Sunita Bhandari and Neera Parajuli) were raped and murdered in Seti riverbank, Pokhara with a single witness. The witness, Churamani Adhikari, later committed suicide as per the official report and the case went unsolved. Just 10 days after Gyanendra was sworn in as the new king in 2001 police were asked to close the case. The case was closed inconclusively in 2003.
Royal Massacre 2001
Ten members of the royal family, including King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, were killed in a mass shooting during a gathering of the royal family at the palace in 2001. The government-appointed inquiry team named Crown Prince Dipendra as perpetrator of the massacre.
Timeline
2001 June 1 Fri 9PM: a mass shooting occurred during a gathering of the royal family at the Narayanhati royal palace. Total 15 injured taken to nearby hospital.
2001 June 2: in the morning, news spread throughout the country that a massacre occurred in the royal palace. TV, Radio gone silent. People came to streets spontaneously.
Raj Sabha Standing Committee met in afternoon. The meeting appointed Prince Dipendra as the King while being in coma. His uncle Prince Gyanendra was appointed his regent.
2001 June 4: Newly appointed King Dipendra died in coma. Gyanendra was appointed as the king.
A-three main committee formed comprising Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhya, Speaker of the House Taranath Ranabhat, and opposition leader Madhav Nepal. Nepal resigned from the committee.
2001 June 12: a Hindu katto ceremony was held to exorcise or banish the spirit of the dead king from Nepal. priest, Durga Prasad Sapkota, dressed as Birendra to symbolize the late king, rode an elephant out of Kathmandu and into symbolic exile, taking many of the monarch's belongings with him.
2001 June 14: The two-membered committee carried out a week-long investigation and published the report in the press conference which concluded that Prince Dipendra had consumed alcohol and smoked cigarettes laced with opium before he walked into the billiard room of the Narayanhiti Palace at night on June 1 and gunned down his victims before shooting himself. However, a large sector of Nepali people did not accept this conclusion.
2001 Nov 12 Mon: Princess Prekshya died in helicopter crash in Rara lake. Helicopter had 5 passengers and a pilot among which only pilot survived. Her husband Prince Dhirendra was also killed in royal massacre in June.
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