Kathmandu, 10 Aug: Police have arrested two people on charges of stealing bones from bodies being cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat. The arrested individuals are Ganesh Dhakal from Kavre, who was responsible for conducting cremations, and Binayak Mainali from Udayapur, who allegedly assisted him. They are accused of removing bones from a corpse during Friday evening’s cremation with the intention of selling them.
This incident has raised serious concerns as it violates both legal norms and the religious sanctity of Nepal’s most sacred cremation site. Authorities are conducting further investigations into the matter.
The incident occurred while the body of Ram Shahi from Baneshwor-9, Banepa Municipality, Kavre was being cremated. During the cremation process, the accused allegedly extracted bones from the corpse.
According to preliminary police investigations, it has been found that they sold these bones to another individual for five hundred rupees. The authorities are continuing their investigation into this illegal act, which violates both legal and religious norms at the sacred cremation site.
Dhakal had been working at Pashupati cremating bodies for the past 25 years. For each cremation, he receives 1,500 rupees from the Pashupati Development Fund. On Friday afternoon, an unknown person approached him, saying that they needed bones “to offer to God,” Dhakal told the police. He told the investigating officers, “While requesting me to take out the bones, that stranger gave me 400 rupees.”
The stranger, who was wearing a coat and pants, waited for hours before Dhakal took out the bones and handed them to his assistant, Vinayak Mainali, in a pouch, he said. Dhakal told the investigating officers, “This is the first time I have removed bones; I have never done such a thing before.”
The pouch he handed to Mainali was then given to the stranger. After receiving the pouch of bones, the stranger gave Mainali an additional 100 rupees, they told the police.
When relatives of the deceased saw the bones being placed in the pouch and taken away, they informed the police. Vinayak Mainali assists Dhakal at Aryaghat by collecting discarded items and clothes.
According to officials involved in the investigation, small-sized bones from a corpse are being bought and sold for 500 rupees. The Gausala Police Circle is investigating the incident.
