Bibek Darnal, 21, of Bokre, Pathari Shanishchare Municipality-2, was found hanging on August 11 at the rehabilitation center in Pulchowk, Pathari Shanishchare Municipality-9. Darnal had been admitted to the center by his parents on August 2 for being a drug addict. On August 11, a staff at the rehabilitation center found Darnal hanging in the toilet with a noose made from a bedsheet. He was immediately taken to the Municipal Hospital in Pathari, where doctors declared him dead upon arrival.
DSP Tulsiram Aryal of the Area Police Office, Pathari, stated that the incident is suspicious, as rehabilitation center staff cut the bedsheet Darnal had used to hang himself and took him to the hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival. Preliminary investigations shows that the rehabilitation center had been subjecting him to torture, and the police suspect that Darnal may have committed suicide as he could not endure the abuse.
DSP Aryal stated that the body was taken to Damak Hospital in Jhapa on August 10 for postmortem, and it will be confirmed if it was a suicide or killimg after the postmortem report.
Kumar Bista , the operator of the rehabilitation center, said that Darnal might have hanged himself due to stress after not receiving a full dose. He dismissed as baseless the rumors that those kept at the center were subjected to forced labor, beatings, or torture.