Ganesh Nepali, who sustained critical injuries after attempting self-immolation in front of the Department of Passports at Tripureshwar, has passed away.
Nepali succumbed to his injuries in the course of treatment at 11:30 am, SP Pawan Kumar Bhattarai of the District Police Range, Kathmandu, told Nepalkhabar.
Nepali, 25, who originally hails from Soru Rural Municipality-1, Mugu, was undergoing treatment at Bir Hospital after he burnt himself on fire after sprinkling petrol on his body on Thursday afternoon.
The doctors involved in the treatment said Nepali had 55 percent burn injuries. He was admitted to the emergency ward of Bir Hospital on Thursday afternoon at 3:00pm.
Meanwhile, preparations were also made to take him to India for further treatment. But it was postponed at the last minute as his health condition deteriorated.
Ganesh's elder brother Madan, who had come to Kathmandu from Mugu for work, has alleged that the incident occurred due to unnecessary harassment by the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police.
Local eyewitnesses have also said that Ganesh got angry after the Metropolitan Police 'locked the wheels' of the motorcycle he was stopping to drop passengers and set himself on fire. During that time, Ganesh even had an argument with the Metropolitan Police for some time.
In some of the videos that have been made public, he is seen sitting on the parked motorcycle and arguing with a female police officer.
Ganesh, who set himself on fire on Thursday, had also sent a message to his nephew in the village on June 27 stating that the 'traffic police had harassed him'. In it, he wrote, "Yesterday when I went to pick up my belongings, the Metropolitan Police locked my motorcycle. I had to pay 1000."
He also put two crying emojis at the end of the message.
Ganesh's brother Madan said that the financial problems along with the repeated fines may have increased his mental stress. Ganesh was in the process of going to Dubai for foreign employment.
According to Prime Minister Balendra Shah's press and research expert Deepa Dahal, based on the initial advice given by the doctors involved in Nepali's treatment, all preparations had been completed to take the patient to AIIMS hospital in New Delhi, India.
For this, Home Minister Sudhan Gurung himself was on duty throughout the night. Also, the government had arranged air ambulance services to take Nepali to India for further medical treatment.
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