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Families seek justice for protesters killed in Nepal

By AAP Newswire

Sep 12, 2025

A candleit vigil for people killed in protests in Nepal — The families of people killed in protests in Nepal are demanding answers, amid political turmoil. -AP

The grieving families of protesters killed by police in Nepal have gathered in the capital, expressing anger at authorities and seeking information about their missing loved ones.

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Relatives held a candlelight vigil outside a hospital morgue in Kathmandu whilw seeking a meeting with army officials.

Earlier on Thursday, hundreds of people crowded Nepal's main airport in Kathmandu to get a flight out of the country, as confusion set in over who governs the Himalayan nation after violent protests toppled the country's government.

The Health Ministry said that 34 people were killed and 1,368 wounded in protests on Monday and Tuesday. They were sparked by a short-lived social media ban and fuelled by broader discontent over corruption and unemployment.

Nepal's army took control of the capital on Tuesday night after two days of huge protests that left the presidential residence and government buildings in flames and forced the prime minister to resign and flee.

Protesters said they are demanding state honours for their loved ones and are not interested in monetary compensation.

When the protests prompted Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli to resign on Tuesday, the country's ceremonial President Ram Chandra Poudel asked him to lead a transitional government until a new one could be put in place.

But Oli fled from his official residence, and his whereabouts were not clear.

Protest leaders met with military officials at the army headquarters in Kathmandu on Wednesday to discuss a transitional leader.

Rehan Raj Dangal, a representative of the protesters, said his group proposed to military leaders that Sushila Karki, a popular former chief justice, should head an interim government.

Karki was the only woman to serve as chief justice of Nepal's Supreme Court. Other protesters opposed her appointment.

"Sushila Karki will be appointed interim prime minister," said a constitutional expert consulted by President Ramchandra Paudel and army chief Ashok Raj Sigdel.

"They (Gen Z) want her. This will happen today," the source added, referring to the 'Gen Z' protesters whose popular name derives from the age of most participants.

Wedged between India and China, Nepal has grappled with political and economic instability since the abolition of its monarchy in 2008, while a lack of jobs drives millions to seek work in other countries and send money home.

Shops began reopening on Friday, among signs that normality was returning in the capital of Kathmandu, with cars in the streets and police personnel taking up batons instead of the guns they carried earlier in the week.