Funeral procession of four people, who died after being shot by police and after being electrocuted in the district last week, has been carried out in Rajbiraj on November 28. Leaders, cadres of Madhesi Morcha and locals participated in the funeral procession that was held after the bodies were brought from the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in the morning. Birendra Ram, 20, of Daha VDC, Nagendra Yadav, 28, of Jamuni Madhepura-9 were killed when police opened firing to remove highway obstruction on November 21 in Bhardaha and Rupani respectively while Dilip Kumar Sah, 38, of Rajbiraj Municipality-1 died in police firing while he was watching a clash between protestors and police on November 22 in Rajbiraj. Shiva Shankar Das, 20, of Jamuni Madhepura VDC-4 had died after being electrocuted on November 20. The Morcha had received the bodies after the District Security Committee forwarded recommendations to the Home Ministry on November 26 to declare the deceased martyrs, provide compensation to the family of the deceased and manage free treatment for the injured among other demands of Mocha. The bodies were kept at Gajendra Chok of Rajbiraj for two hours today after marching around different parts of the district to pay tribute towards them. Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal Chairperson Upendra Yadav, Sadhabhawan Party Chairperson Rajendra Mahato and Tarai Madhes Sadhabhawan Party Chairperson Mahendra Ray Yadav among other leaders had draped the parties’ flags onto the bodies to pay last tribute. According to Sunil Kumar Jha, coordinator of the United Democratic Madhesi Front in Saptari, the Front will hand over the bodies to their families on Saturday evening to perform final rites. The post-mortem of the bodies had been delayed following the debate on the nature of their deaths. The decision of the district security committee and postmortem was delayed after security agencies claimed that the deceased Sah did not sustain bullet and that deceased Das died after being electrocuted in his work, not in the agitation.

Manohar Kumar Pokharel