TC 10:00:00:00

Dawn in Kathmandu, Nepal.

A country in the midst of a severe crime epidemic.

Many of these shop-owners belong to a community of Indian origin, known as Marwaris. They are commonly perceived as dominating business in the capital.

And in the last few years, they have become favoured targets for kidnapping and extortion.

TC: 10:00:34:00

MARWARI KIDNAP VICTIM: I was coming back from Delhi. They stopped and beat my driver. They showed a pistol and four people got inside my car.

TC: 10:00:45:00

MARWARI KIDNAP VICTIM: They put bandages over my eyes. Then where I was taken I don’t know.

TC 10:00:53:00

Initially the kidnappers demanded 20 million rupees. Eventually, his wife negotiated the fee down.

After being held for four days, this Marwari businessman was released in exchange for one million rupees, about 13,000 dollars.

TC 10:01:09:00

MARWARI KIDNAP VICTIM: Because of this so many Marwaris have left the country. Because of all these kidnapping cases.

TC 10:01:17:00

MARWARI KIDNAP VICTIM: The security system is very weak. And it worsens every day. The reason could be the political instability in the country.

TC 10:01:30:00

Nepal’s civil war lasted over a decade and claimed more than 13,000 lives,

In 2006, the government and rebel Maoists signed a peace accord.

The agreement paved the way for the restoration of democracy and the eventual abolishing of the monarchy – ushering, people hoped, a new era of peace and stability.

TC 10:01:57:00

GAGAN THAPA, Nepali Congress – Constituent Assembly Member: Before this peace accord, even though Nepal at the time was in a state of war. But I would say this sense of safety. The sense of insecurity, was significant less, even at that period of time.

TC 10:02:16:00

Dr. BHOGENDRA SHARMA, Centre for Victims of Torture – President: People expected to be safer, people expected that it would be peaceful. More peaceful than before, but it didn’t happen.

TC 10:02:31:00

Since the end of the conflict, crime has escalated dramatically. Notably in the form of abductions. One human rights organisation estimates that in the last 3 years, over 2,100 people have been abducted.

By new armed groups in the South and criminal groups in the capital.

TC 10:02:50:00

GAGAN THAPA, Nepali Congress – Constituent Assembly Member: There are a number of reasons why this kidnapping and extortions has become so common in Nepal and why even for the organised criminal groups Nepal has become heaven. The line is blurred between this crime and politics. So the criminalization of politics I would say and the politicization of the crime, has become a common phenomenon now in Nepal.

TC 10:03:16:00

The security crisis is linked to the turmoil of the political realm.

In 2008, the Maoists won a majority of seats in the Constituent Assembly, a body responsible for the drafting a new constitution.

The Maoists formed a unity government together with the other large parties, UML and Nepali Congress.

But in May 2009, Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned when his efforts to sack the army chief were blocked by the president.

The Maoists walked out from government, and have been protesting ever since... on the streets and in parliament.

The deadline for drafting a new constitution is May 2010, but as the Maoists protest and block every government move, little headway has been achieved.

TC 10:04:08:00

BARSHA MAN PUN, Senior CPN-Maoist Leader: All we want is a discussion in parliament about the illegitimate steps taken by the president. We only want a discussion and a record of the same.

TC 10:04:18:00

Barsha Man Pun is a senior Maoist leader. He believes crime has surged because the political parties which remain in government protect the criminals.

TC 10:04:26:00

BARSHA MAN PUN, Senior CPN-Maoist Leader: If the criminal is one of their own, then nothing happens to them. Unless the confidence of the people is restored, then the criminals groups will simply carry on their operations.

TC 10:04:48:00

Kidnapping gangs rarely abduct the rich and influential.

Instead they focus on the middle and upper middle classes, who lack political connections.

And businessmen are not their only favoured targets.

TC 10:05:06:00

BIMALA LUITEL, Mother of victim: We didn’t give our son a kite, because our house was very high. We were afraid the boy could fall from the top.

TC 10:05:18:00

When 8 year old Bibek Luitel was kidnapped three years ago, his parents immediately suspected Wakil Ansari. A man they had hired to tile their kitchen a few months before.

TC 10:05:29:00

BIMALA LUITEL, Mother of victim: Our son told us that this man had promised to buy him a kite.

TC 10:05:37:00

KEDAR PRASAD LUITEL, Father of victim:  And he used to come quite often, sometimes when we were not here. And he came the same day the boy vanished.

TC 10:05:45:00

When confronted Ansari confessed to the crime and named 3 other accomplices. They were all taken to the police.

TC 10:05:52:00

BIMALA LUITEL, Mother of victim: They told the police that the boy is Anam Nagar. At the place of a woman called Patani Lama. If the search was done then, he would have been found.

TC 10:06:04:00

BIMALA LUITEL, Mother of victim: But the police were saying it’s already 12 o’clock, we have no staff, so we can only look for the boy the next morning.

TC 10:06:14:00

The police, the Luitels believe, botched the investigation. 22 days after Bibek was abducted, his decapitated body was found in a dump on the outskirsts of Kathmandu. His head lay a hundred feet away.

TC 10:06:31:00

Four of the culprits are now in prison serving life sentences.

TC 10:06:33:00

KEDAR PRASAD LUITEL, Father of victim:  Life sentence means twenty years. And twenty years in reality means ten.

TC 10:06:38:00

KEDAR PRASAD LUITEL, Father of victim:  The criminals can get out of prison over 2 or 3 years if the warden certifies good behaviour. It’s very easy to do criminal activities in Nepal. Very easy.

TC 10:06:53:00

KEDAR PRASAD LUITEL, Father of victim:  And after our baby was kidnapped, the situation has worsened.

TC 10:07:08

Not all abductions end in tragedy.

But even for those lucky enough to be rescued, life does not simply return to normal

Only a few weeks earlier, 10 year old Monica Piya was snatched by a kidnapping squad on motorcycle.

TC 10:07:26:00

MONICA PITYA, Rescued victim: I was going to school with my sister and two people called me. I said no and they grabbed me.

TC 10:07:42:00

When passer-by Ram Prasad Chatkuli heard her screams, he chased the kidnappers on his motorcycle, cornered and confronted them.

TC 10:07:53:00

RAM PRASAD CHAKULI, Rescuer: I said Give the baby back’. And then they threw the girl besides me. And we took her to school.

TC 10:08:03:00

Three of the six kidnappers were caught and arrested. The case grabbed national headlines and Ram was hailed a hero.

But there were repercussions to his courage. He has been receiving phone threats and lives in constant fear.

TC 10:08:17:00

RAM PRASAD CHAKULI, Rescuer: These people are part of a criminal network so large that at any time they can take revenge on me, my friends and my family.

GRAPHICS:

1. “Maoist Background”

2. “Ramesh Magar”

3. “Youth Communist League (YCL)”

TC 10:08:36:00

Further complicating matters are the Maoist connections of the suspected mastermind.

It’s feared Ramesh Magar has taken refuge in the Maoist-affiliated Youth Communist League camp, which renders him untouchable to the police.

TC 10:08:50

GAGAN THAPA, Nepali Congress – Constituent Assembly Member: The political parties, especially Maoists, they’re still... they have a semi-armed force which they call Young Communist League. They are using a number of centres, they stay there as a group and they are involved in this organised violence. And they are enjoying impunity.

TC 10:09:13:00

Dr. BHOGENDRA SHARMA, Centre for Victims of Torture – President: If the political cadres of some political party commit some kind of crime, then there’s another kind of impunity. You must have heard, the Maoists top the list in that kind of impunity.

TC 10:09:29:00

BARSHA MAN PUN, Senior CPN-Maoist Leader: We have the Youth Communist League. Its main objective is to mobilize youth in politics and social work. When we came out of war, a lot people joined the YCL in very large numbers. So some unwanted people got in.

TC 10:09:51:00

BARSHA MAN PUN, Senior CPN-Maoist Leader: Nowadays that’s not the case. Those parties in government now, they are the ones involved in crime. Kidnappings, even murder. They are politically protecting the criminals.

TC 10:10:02:00

PRADEEP GYAWALI, Senior UML Leader: Sometimes, the UML is criticized on the basis of activities of youth wings, specially the youth force. But I want to make clear that youth force is not a photocopy of CPN Maoists who it takes rule on its hand, but UML is totally different.

TC 10:10:31:00

The lack of security has hampered most of the economy in Nepal. But one type of business is booming.

Welcome to Sun City – a multi-million dollar development on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

TC 10:10:49:00

ANITA THAPA Sun City, Sales and Marketing: This is the 4-bedroom apartment. And the square feet is 1336 sq ft. This is the biggest one. We have the kitchen.

TC 10:11:00:00

In most of the West, property prices are falling steeply. But in Nepal, the cost of land has surged by over 300 percent in the last six years.

Investing in property in Kathmandu is alluring to the Nepalese for the safety of their money... and of themselves.

TC 10:11:16:00

ANITA THAPA Sun City, Sales and Marketing: For the security purpose we have the compound boundary walls, and then CCTV cameras in front of our main entrance and then we have security guards 24 hours.

TC 10:11:28:00

The security provisions have attracted special interest from one particular group.

TC 10:11:32:00

ANITA THAPA Sun City, Sales and Marketing: We have a large number of Marwari families buying this apartment, since they have been targeted. So that’s the main reason they’re buying the apartment, for the security purpose.

Interviewer: Do they tell you that?

ANITA THAPA Sun City, Sales and Marketing: Yes, they do

TC 10:11:46:00

Customer: There’s no security, in Nepal. People are not safe in Nepal, Government accepting this, government of Nepal.

TC 10:11:54:00

But at police headquarters, they have a different take on matters.

TC 10:11:58:00

DSP SHER BAHADUR BASNET, Anti-Kidnapping Unit: 99% of the time, police is successful in this crime.

TC 10:12:03:00

DSP Sher Bahadur Basnet heads an anti-kindapping unit in Kathmandu.

He says the number of abductions in the capital are actually down.

And that the sense of alarm amongst the public is due mainly to an incident two months before - the brutal abduction and murder of 19-year old student Khyati Shrestha.

TC 10:12:21:00

DSP SHER BAHADUR BASNET, Anti-Kidnapping Unit: Khyati was a young lada Khyati. Ransom was demanded at around 1 million rupees which was paid. Later it was revealed that the girl was killed immediately. After they took the money.

TC 10:12:34:00

DSP SHER BAHADUR BASNET, Anti-Kidnapping Unit: They chopped the body into small pieces and then threw the body part is different parts of the city.

TC 10:12:47:00

Khyati’s case shocked the nation and gained substantial media coverage.

TC 10:12:52:00

DSP SHER BAHADUR BASNET, Anti-Kidnapping Unit: After the surfacing of these cases, newspapers started publishing kidnapping cases. They brought out at the same time all the abductions of the entire year. So people thought that kidnapping had suddenly increased.

TC 10:13:14:00

Yet critics contend that whilst the number of reported cases may be down – the real number of kidnappings is unknown.

Many victims simply pay the ransom and remain silent about their ordeal.

TC 10:13:26:00

PAWAN MITTAL, President Marwari Sewa Samiti Nobody wants to go the the police. They are very much afraid and they think that if they report nobody can do nothing and there will be problem in the future also.

TC 10:13:40:00

Pawan Mital is the Chairman of local Marwari Association.

He says that the levels of kidnappings and extortion in his community were at their worse two years ago. They appeared to be on the wane for some time, but in the last few months have started soaring again.

TC 10:13:56:00

PAWAN MITTAL, President Marwari Sewa Samiti: Kidnaps started about 3 years back. And in our knowledge 67 persons of our community have been kidnapped. Our people think that if there’s any problem give some amount and want to take peace.

TC 10:14:15:00

DSP SHER BAHADUR BASNET, Anti-Kidnapping Unit: In some cases people may not go to the police, but we think those are minimal.

TC 10:14:22:00

BARSHA MAN PUN, Senior CPN-Maoist Leader: Right now the situation is that people prefer to pay the ransom and get the person released rather than go to the police. In the Terai region in one kidnapping case, two police officers were caught demanding the ransom. So the police themselves were involved.

TC 10:14:46:00

The majority of kidnappings for ransom in Nepal have taken place in the Southern lowland region which borders India: Terai.

There, a new insurgency is mounting, and the region has witnessed the frenzied proliferation of violent armed groups.

Over a hundred of them, all claiming to fight for the liberation of the local inhabitants.

They finance themselves through kidnappings and extortion.

TC 10:15:16:00

JIBAN DHITAL, Former Village Development Secretary Siraha: It was a market day, around 2 o’clock. They came in a group of 8 or 10 people. They kidnapped me in the middle of the street.

TC 10:15:31:00

JIBAN DHITAL, Former Village Development Secretary Siraha: After four days they still hadn’t told me why I had been kidnapped. Although I had been asking. They only said that their party ordered them to kidnap me.

TC 10:15:41:00

JIBAN DHITAL, Former Village Development Secretary Siraha: So they were only following party instructions. On the fourth day, they asked me for 1 million rupees.

TC 10:15:49:00

SHOBA DHITAL, Wife: I have my dignity, but against my dignity at the time I called everybody whether I knew them or not to help me collect the money. My husband didn’t know because he wasn’t there. I begged everyone to save my husband’s life.

TC 10:16:04:00

Jiban Dhital is the former Development Secretary of his village.

He was kidnapped for ransom last year by a separatist group called the SJTMM – The Terais People Liberation Front.

Local government representatives such as Jiban are favoured targets of the new armed groups.

TC 10:16:25:00

JIBAN DHITAL, Former Village Development Secretary Siraha: Right now, village secretaries all over the region have left their village and moved to the regional headquarters. This is because of the civil war. Before it was the civil war with the Maoists. Now it’s the armed groups operating in Terai.

TC 10:16:47:00

The Madhesi are the native people of the Southern plains and compose one third of Nepal’s population.

They have their own distinct culture and languages, but have suffered discrimination and systematic exclusion from jobs in the government, police and army.

Many of the armed groups are composed by former Maoists. They rose at the end of the civil war.

TC 10:17:11:00

SUBODH PYAKUREL, Chairman INSEC (Informal Sector Service Centre): In Madhesi, there are currently more than 109 groups. They do carry the weapon. They extort the money. They claim that they are fighting for the freedom of Madhesi and what kind of freedom, we are quite unable to understand. In the name of Madhesi freedom they are killing the Madhesi.

TC 10:17:31:00

GAGAN THAPA, Nepali Congress – Constituent Assembly Member: They were very few in the number at the beginning. Later on there was an unstoppable split in these groups and this in-fighting was all due to money and related to other issues, non-political issues.

TC 10:17:48:00

Dr. BHOGENDRA SHARMA, Centre for Victims of Torture – President: The Terai, has become worse than ever before in the history of Nepal. Even during Maoist war, the Terai was not that violent, but now it has become very very violent.

TC 10:18:05:00

According to the government, there are over 100 armed groups like this one in Terai – terrorising the local population through the use of murder, abduction and extortion.

With names such as the Liberation Tigers, Terai Cobra and Madhesi Virus killers, they demand secession from Nepal and the creation of a new Madhesi nation-state. Most, however, simply use politics as a front for purely criminal activities.

These are rare pictures of the secret training camps of the SJTMM – the armed group which kidnapped Jhiban Dhital.

TC 10:18:44:00

Bisfot Singh is one of SJTMM’s top leaders.

TC 10:18:48:00

BISFOT SINGH, SJTMM Central Committee Member: That’s completely wrong. Our cadres are not involved in violence. In Terai, so many organisations have been formed.

TC 10:19:00:00

BISFOT SINGH, SJTMM Central Committee Member: So it’s thieves and roobers that are doing this. My organisation is not involved.

TC 10:19:11:00

Then what about Jiban Dhital, who claims to have been abducted by the SJTMM?

TC 10:19:18:00

BISFOT SINGH, SJTMM Central Committee Member: You are asking whether we have killers in my organisation. Yes, they were present before. But they are gone now. We have never done any killings or violence. So why should we now? If we have to kill, then we kill police, but not the people.

TC 10:19:47:00

JIBAN DHITAL, Former Village Development Secretary Siraha: They have killed Madhesi people, they have kidnapped Madhesi people. What is the reason? Money.

TC 10:19:57:00

Compared to the levels of violence from last year, a certain amount of calm has returned to the region.

The government is holding peace talks with five Terai armed groups – and is in preliminary discussions with a further seven.

This is, supposedly, a period of ceasefire.

But this truce didn’t prevent the abduction of Sanjay Sah by the Mukhti Tigers, only two weeks earlier.

His father, Ramibilah, had to pay one million rupees for his release.

TC 10:20:22:00

SANJAY SAH, Kidnapping Victim: I used to tell them, you’ll get your money in time, why do you torture me like this? But they would threaten me to be quiet. ‘We don’t need money. We will kill you and walk away’.

TC 10:20:49:00

Sanjay says that his abductors repeatedly beat him and performed mock executions.

He also overheard them discussing who would get a cut of the ransom.

TC 10:20:59:00

SANJAY SAH, Kidnapping Victim: They said that they had given money to the police. So they didn’t fear the police. They had set 70,000 aside for them.

TC 10:21:08:00

BHUPAL PANDHARI, Super Intendent Saptari Police District: This is a false accusation. It’s possible that someone could blame the police for this. But there’s no police involvement in these crimes.

TC 10:21:22:00

Bhupal Pandhari is the Super-Intendent of Saptari Police District

He says that due to the peace talks and vigorous police efforts, crime is now under control.

We asked him if that’s the case, why was Sanjay Sah kidnapped only two weeks before by a group in the peace talks, the Mukti Tigers?

TC 10:21:40:00

BHUPAL PANDHARI, Super Intendent Saptari Police District: Now you are talking about the Tigers, who have two groups. One group has gone for dialogue but the other separated and didn’t go.

TC 10:21:54:00

BHUPAL PANDHARI, Super Intendent Saptari Police District: Those who’ve gone for dialogue we consider political parties. Those who have not gone are still doing the kidnappings.

TC 10:22:11:00

SUBODH PYAKUREL, Chairman INSEC (Informal Sector Service Centre): There is a strong terrified population. Strongly terrified. People don’t have the courage to oppose the criminal activity. Because they think that even if they file a case against any criminal, next day in the name of peace dialogue, peace process, government may take back all the cases, and the same criminal will come and attack.

TC 10:22:41:00

PRADEEP GYAWALI, Senior UML Leader: We are not just starting. The previous government started to dialogue them. I think it is positive if the dialogue can solve the problem and it can change the heart and mindset of the criminal groups, armed groups.

TC 10:23:03:00

RAMIBILAH SAH, Father of Victim: The same people who are in dialogue with the government they come out on the streets and kidnap people. They openly discuss how many people they have kidnapped at the local bar. And at the same time they are in dialogue.

TC 10:23:26:00

A climate of impunity dominates daily life in Nepal

People are angry about the state of affairs and are fighting back.

In the last few years, the whole country has witnessed the rise and rise of a now pervasive display of people power.

The bandh or strike.

TC 10:23:52:00

Dr. BHOGENDRA SHARMA, Centre for Victims of Torture – President: Everyday there’s some kind of strike somewhere. If two gangs fight each other and someone is wounded or killed, then there’s bandh. If someone’s hit by a car, then there is bandh..

TC 10:24:07:00

GAGAN THAPA, Nepali Congress – Constituent Assembly Member: In some cases, if there’s a dispute between husband and wife, one of them will come down to the street and declare this is bandh.

TC 10:24:16:00

Dr. BHOGENDRA SHARMA, Centre for Victims of Torture – President: They often turn violent, they burn tires, and sometimes they destroy the vehicles, and sometimes there’s fight between police and those who organise the bandh. So it can turn violent.

TC 10:24:33:00

Daily strikes, road blocks, the forceful shutdown of businesses, have all further stunted and already beleaguered economy.

People have lost their faith in government. Many believe that only through collective force they can achieve anything.

And in recent months, mobs have directed their fury at the nation’s most detested group: kidnappers.

Real or imagined.

TC 10:25:02:00

GANGA PRASAD YADAV, VCD Chairman Saptari: One month before the incident, there was a rumour. That people were coming from India to kidnap people and take out their eyes and their kidneys. And on that day there were rumours that two kidnappers had come to the village. Because of that rumour people gathered near the canal. Nobody tried to find out the facts.

TC 10:25:31:00

GANGA PRASAD YADAV, VCD Chairman Saptari: They just followed the rumours and captured two strangers. They started beating them. Then they brought the kerosene, poured it on them and set them on fire.

TC 10:25:45:00

KARTIK KUMAR YADAV, Witness: This is the place where he was burned. A few people tried to stop them. I was one of them and there were a few others. Everyone was so excited. They said ‘if we burn him, there won’t be any more child kidnappers’

`

TC 10:26:05:00

The incident at Jocaina village was not isolated.

This is footage of one public lynching in the South – this man had been accused of murder.

In only one month, 15 people branded as child snatchers were brutally murdered by angry mobs in Terai.

Most of the victims were beggars from India.

All of them were innocent.

TC 10:26:34:00

GAGAN THAPA, Nepali Congress – Constituent Assembly Member: People themselves in a group want to punish the culprit, suspected criminal at the spot. Because they believe that’s the only way to punish it. Otherwise later on, the suspected criminal will escape from it, if he or she has the political connections.

TC 10:26:52:00

PRADEEP GYAWALI, Senior UML Leader: There is a widespread feeling that police cannot protect us, government cannot protect us. It cannot punish the criminals. So this type of feelings pave the way to the mobocracy.

TC 10:27:12:00

Vigilantism has not been constrained to rural areas.

In early July, mob justice fever hit the capital.

Two groups of students were quarrelling on the streets of Kathamndu. The fight soon descended into a mob frenzy.

In the chaos, locals started accusing the students of being child kidnappers.

TC 10:27:32:00

SHIR KUMARI GAHA MAGAR, Mother of lynching victim: Three people were trapped. My son was amongst them. They pleaded that they were not kidnappers. They hit my son on the head with a concrete slab.

TC 10:27:43:00

The mob killed Jeevan Gaha Magar on the spot, along with two of his friends.

The police arrested some of the culprits, but they were not held for long.

TC 10:27:57:00

SHIR KUMARI GAHA MAGAR, Mother of lynching victim: Yes, they were caught, but the neighbours came to the rescue. They were about to torch down the whole police station. So the police released them without any investigation. I can never forget this. Until the day I day, this is going to haunt me.

TC 10:28:28:00

Dr. BHOGENDRA SHARMA, Centre for Victims of Torture – President: People have become more violent. Nowadays, the lynching has become I think common. It is not that uncommon. It used to be very uncommon.

TC 10:28:42:00

GAGAN THAPA, Nepali Congress – Constituent Assembly Member: So this is the psyche of Nepal and my analysis is that it is all due to this 10 year–old conflict. People have seen it, people have observed it. Nepal was never, was totally different before this war.

TC 10:29:01

KEDAR PRASAD LUITEL, Father of victim:  Unless these political parties stop fighting each other and unite to make the law strong. There won’t be peace in our society.

TC 10:29:15:00

Many argue that Nepal’s descent towards lawlessness is not unusual for a country in a period of political transition.

If and when the new constitution is finished – government stability, along with security, shall swiftly return.

Others, however, fear violence is embedding itself into the very fabric of society.

And if so, it may be many years before this country truly finds peace.

FADE OUT