Nepalese royal massacre

Nepalese royal massacre
The Narayanhity Royal Palace, former home of the Royal Family. Following the abdication of the king and the founding of a republic, the building and its grounds have been turned into a museum.
Location	Narayanhity Royal Palace, Kathmandu, Nepal
Date	June 1, 2001 about 21:00 (UTC+5:45)
Target	The Nepali Royal Family King Birendra of Nepal
Attack type	Fratricide, patricide, sororicide, regicide, matricide, avunculicide, mass murder, murder-suicide, massacre
Death(s)	10 (including the perpetrator)
Injured	5
Perpetrator(s)	Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah (It has not been proven)

The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on Friday, June 1, 2001, at a house in the grounds of the Narayanhity Royal Palace, then the residence of the Nepalese monarchy, when the heir to the throne, Prince Dipendra killed nine members of his family and himself. However, it hasn't been proven that Dipendra killed his family. The dead included King Birendra of Nepal and Queen Aiswarya, Dipendra's father and mother. Prince Dipendra became de jure King of Nepal upon his father's death and died whilst in a coma three days after the act; however there are claims that Dipendra was already dead before being declared as the King. Gyanendra then became king.

Overview of events

According to reports, Dipendra had been drinking heavily and had "misbehaved" with a guest, which resulted in his father, King Birendra, telling his son to leave the party. The drunken Dipendra was taken to his room by his brother Prince Nirajan and cousin Prince Paras.^[1]

One hour later, Dipendra returned to the party armed with an H&K MP5 and an M16 and fired a single shot into the ceiling before turning the gun on his father, King Birendra. Seconds later, Dipendra shot one of his aunts. He then shot his uncle Dhirendra in the chest at point-blank range when he tried to stop Dipendra.^[1] During the shooting, Prince Paras suffered slight injuries and managed to save at least three royals, including two children, by pulling a sofa over them.^[1]

During the attack, Dipendra darted in and out of the room firing shots each time. His mother, Queen Aishwarya, who came into the room when the first shots were fired, left quickly, looking for help.^[2]

Dipendra's mother Aishwarya and his brother Nirajan confronted him in the garden of the palace, where they were both shot dead. Dipendra then proceeded to a small bridge over a stream running through the palace, where he shot himself.^[1] He was said to have shot himself with an AK-47.

Victims of the massacre

• King Birendra, father
• Queen Aishwarya, mother
• Prince (later HM King) Dipendra, perpetrator
• Prince Nirajan, brother
• Princess Shruti, sister
• (Prince) Dhirendra, King Birendra's brother who had renounced his title
• Princess Jayanti, King Birendra's cousin
• Princess Shanti, King Birendra's sister
• Princess Sharada, King Birendra's sister
• Kumar Khadga, Princess Sharada's husband

Wounded

• Princess Shova, King Birendra's sister
• Kumar Gaurabh, Princess Shruti's husband
• Princess Komal, Prince (now former King) Gyanendra's wife and former Queen
• (Princess) Ketaki Chester, King Birendra's cousin who had renounced her title
• Prince Paras

Aftermath

Dipendra was proclaimed King while in a coma, but he died on June 4, 2001, after a three-day reign.^[3] Gyanendra was appointed regent for the three days, then ascended the throne himself after Dipendra died.

While Dipendra lived, Gyanendra maintained that the deaths were the result of an "accidental discharge of an automatic weapon". However, he later said that he made this claim due to "legal and constitutional hurdles", since under the constitution, and by tradition, Dipendra could not have been charged with murder had he survived.^[4] A full investigation took place, and Crown Prince Dipendra was found to be responsible for the killing.

The widely circulated rumor is that Prince Dipendra was angry over a marriage dispute.^[5] Dipendra's choice of bride was Devyani Rana, daughter of Pashupati SJB Rana, a member of the Rana clan, against whom the Shah dynasty have a historic animosity.^{[citation needed]} The Rana clan had served as the hereditary prime ministers of Nepal until 1951, with the title Maharaja, and the two clans have a long history of inter-marriages.^{[citation needed]}

A two-man committee comprising Keshav Prasad Upadhaya, the then-Supreme Court Chief Justice, and Taranath Ranabhat, the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, carried out the week-long investigation into the massacre.^[6] The investigation concluded, after interviewing more than a hundred people including eyewitnesses and palace officials, guards and staff, that Dipendra had carried out the massacre.^[7] Large numbers of critics and Nepalese both inside Nepal and abroad disputed the official report because many evidence and facts reported by the then investigation team seems to be in contradiction in many forms. A close aide of Dipendra when he was prince said," He can give up the throne for the sake of his love, but he can never do this kind of thing."^{[citation needed]}

Conspiracy theories

Subsequently, the chairman of Nepal Maoists Party in a public gathering also stated that the massacre was planned by India. All most all people in Nepal suspected that Gyanendra was responsible for the royal palace massacre in liaison with Research & Analysis Wing of India (R&AW) and CIA of USA on June 1, 2001, and that he had blamed Dipendra so that he could assume the throne himself.^[8] Gyanendra was as unpopular in the country as his son Paras. He had been third in line to the throne before the massacre. He was out of town (in Pokhara) during the massacre and was the closest surviving relative of the king. Gyanendra's wife and son were in the room at the royal palace during the massacre. While his son escaped with slight injuries,^[9] his wife was more seriously injured during the incident.^{[10][citation needed]} However, few people including crown prince Paras survived and coincidentally the then prince Gyanendra had to be out of town that day.

Despite the fact that two survivors have publicly confirmed that Dipendra was doing the shooting, as was documented in a BBC documentary,^[2] many Nepali people still consider it a mystery. Recently, a book was published in Nepal named Raktakunda recounting the massacre.^[11] It looks at the incident through the eyes of one of the surviving witnesses, Queen Mother Ratna's personal maid, identified in the book as Shanta. The book, which the author says is a "historical novel", posits that two men masked as Crown Prince Dipendra fired the shots that led to the massacre. Shanta's husband, Trilochan Acharya, also a royal palace employee, was killed along with 10 royal family members, including the entire family of King Birendra. In addition to details of the royal massacre, Shanta alleged many other cover-ups by the royal family, including a claim that the previous king King Mahendra committed suicide.

See also

• List of massacres in Nepal

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Rahul Bedi; Alex Spillius (2001-06-08). "Massacre witness blames Crown Prince". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/06/08/wnep08.xml. Retrieved 2008-05-28. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Nepal survivors blame prince". BBC News. 7 June 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1375097.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
3. ^ "Nepal mourns slain king". BBC News. 2 June 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1366170.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
4. ^ "Nepal journalists charged with treason". BBC News. 27 June 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1373851.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
5. ^ "Five thousand at Indian wedding". BBC News. 23 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6389869.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
6. ^ "Nepal massacre inquiry begins, at long last". CNN. 08 June, 2001. http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/06/08/nepal.royal.probe/index.html. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Prince blamed for Nepal massacre". BBC News. 14 June 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1387953.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
8. ^ "Death of a dynasty". The Daily Telegraph (London). 2001-06-23. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2001/06/23/tlnap23.xml. ^{[dead link]}
9. ^ "Nepal's errant crown prince". BBC News. 5 June 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1371524.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
10. ^ "Nepal queen leaves hospital". BBC News. 27 June 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1410793.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
11. ^ "Nepali Times". http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/collections/journals/nepalitimes/pdf/Nepali_Times_333.pdf. 

External links

• Nepal: Murder in Palace, Maoists in Mountains (RWOR)
• Trapped in tradition (Frontline: India's National Magazine)
• Eyewitness Statements