The post-mortem report of five bodies recovered after the Rukum incident, in which five Dalit youths died, has concluded the cause of death as thrashing.

All five deceased had injury marks in their heads, faces, hands, legs, chests, backs, and other parts of their bodies, as per the post-mortem report. According to a medical professional involved in the post-mortem, if the cause of their death had been due to drowning, the bodies would have water in their stomachs. But the bodies did not have water in their stomachs.

Samples from the bodies were sent to the National Forensic Science Laboratory in Kathmandu for post-mortem.

Dalit rights activists have submitted a six-point letter to the probe committee, formed to look into the case, demanding fair investigation, which was allegedly perpetrated due to caste-based discrimination.

Meanwhile, the family of the deceased have accused that attempts were being made to dismiss the real reasons behind the incident. They have alleged that some local residents as well as local representatives were trying to bail out the culprits by misinterpreting the cause of deaths.

Munal BK, father of one of the deceased Nawaraj, has accused ward chair Dambar Malla as the main perpetrator of the incident. He said despite the fact that the youths were beaten to death, some influential people had spread rumours saying the boys died after jumping into the Bheri River.

21-year-old Nawaraj BK of Bheri Municipality-4 in Jajarkot had gone to Soti of Chaurjahari Municipality-8 in Rukum West to bring a 17-year-old girl as his bride, with her consent, along with his friends on Saturday.

The group of youths, however, were chased and attacked by the villagers as well as the girl’s family. Ward chair Malla was allegedly among those who chased the youths.

Five bodies have been recovered from the Bheri river since Sunday morning.

The incident spiralled after the so called “upper caste” locals attacked the youths allegedly under the pretext of belonging to the so called “lower caste”.

Dalit rights activists as well as members of the civil society staged protests in Kathmandu yesterday and today demanding fair investigation into the incident. The high-level probe committee formed by the Home Ministry to probe the incident has commenced its works from today.