Rumour mills rife in Nepalese murder

Manama

Theories of torture or sexual motives being involved in the murder of Dipendra Basnet are wide of the mark though the victim’s genitals were found to have been amputated, according to his friends.

On May 19, the dead body of 45-year-old Dipendra Basnet was found to have been amputated. The accused, Til Kumar, committed the crime in an apartment in East Riffa before heading to a nearby shopping mall. Kumar reportedly called up his colleagues and confessed to his crime within an hour.

 There is no official confirmation about whether the amputation was done prior to the killing or after, leading to speculations that torture or a sexual attack was involved. 

 However, the building residents feel that the amputation happened after the murder. "If it happened before the murder, it would be considered as torture and nobody in the building heard any screaming. We are shocked that such a heinous crime occurred in this building,” a resident of the building said. 

 The friends of Dependra and Kumar said that neither of the men was known to be homosexual.

 “We’ve heard the rumours. But we have never witnessed any such behaviour from them in the past," a friend said. 

 Residents of the building include Nepalese nationals, Bangladesh nationals, Indians and Pakistanis. Many of whom are colleagues of Dipendra and Kumar.

 According to them, the reason behind the amputation could be to "disrespect the dead body".

 Meanwhile, Nepalese Social worker Him Lal Panday urged the Nepalese community not to cook up rumours. “The most common rumours are that they had dispute about a lady. Some said that the murderer was sexually agitated or mentally ill. These are completely baseless and some of the rumours are disrespectful even to the victim," he said. 

 "We should let the police carry on their investigations instead of trying to find answers ourselves. We may have gone through some hard times in our personal lives because of what happened in Nepal. But it is not an excuse to indulge in gossiping or concocting stories about others," he added.

 Commenting on it, Nepalese Embassy Third Secretary Om Kumar Bhandari said: “The Embassy is not involved in the investigation. So we cannot comment further. We hope that justice is served and the perpetrator deserves to be punished."  

 “The family of Til Kumar could not be reached. They are still unaware of his crime. The embassy was able to contact the family of Dipendra. The body will be sent to Nepal once the formal procedures are completed,” he added.

 Kumar, who is currently in police custody, slit the victim’s throat following a personal dispute last Sunday night. Dipendra died of deep wounds on his neck. The body is now kept in Salmaniya Medical Complex(SMC).

Image: Dipendra's friends at the building.