A 36-year-old “mentally ill” man beat his father and uncle to death at Banjhakhet-1 in Lamjung district on Friday night. His mother and aunt sustained injuries in the incident.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Shambhu Prasad Dhakal, Tirtha Bahadur Ghale fatally thrashed his father Min Bahadur Ghale (76) and uncle Dhan Bahadur Ghale (84) at Khasur in Banjhakhet-1 on Friday night. They succumbed to injuries on Saturday morning.

The critically injured duo was taken to Chitwan Medical College in Bharatpur immediately after the incident. However, they were brought back to Lamjung after the hospital said that their treatment was not possible.

The Ghale siblings died on their way to Beshisahar from Bharatpur, said police. The injured women returned home following treatment at Lamjung Community Hospital.

It is still not clear why the perpetrator turned violent. The incident took place at around 8pm. Police took Tirtha Bahadur under control five hours after the incident.

He first hit his father with a wooden plank then turned to his mother. His uncle Dhan Bahadur was assaulted as he tried to stop him from attacking his mother. He also assaulted the aunt as she attempted to prevent him.

According to the villagers, Tirtha Bahadur has been suffering from a mental illness. They told the Post that he fell seriously ill some 10 years ago but he had been fine after treatment. 

He later went abroad for work but came back four years ago as the illness relapsed.

“In the past four/five days, he would start muttering and bang neighbours’ doors,” said Dhudh Prasad Ghale, a local.

The village is in deep mourning after the incident. A distant relative of the bereaved families also died a natural death the same night. The village council of the CPN-UML scheduled to convene on Saturday was postponed due to the deaths.