Om Prakash Mehta was already in bed at around 9 pm on the evening of July 26. But as tensions began rising at the Kaptanganj Chowk, about 700 metres from his home, he watched videos on social media of his own friends at the scene, and decided to go there as well. His father, Krishnadev, tried to stop him, but he didn’t listen.
At around 10 pm, Krishnadev called his 31-year-old son and asked him to come back quickly. “I’ll be there soon,” Om Prakash said, before ending the call. Right then, gunfire erupted at the chowk. Moments later, Krishnadev received a call from one of his son’s friends. “Om Prakash has been shot,” he was told.
By the time Krishnadev ran and arrived at the chowk, Om Prakash had already been placed in an ambulance and taken to the Neuro Hospital in Biratnagar. People there told him it wasn’t very serious and that he’d recover.
Krishnadev changed his clothes and arrived at the hospital, about 25 kilometres east. By then, Om Prakash had been placed on a ventilator. Next morning, his relatives and neighbours told him that the treatment was going well, and he should go home and take care of his wife.
While Krishnadev was returning to Kaptanganj, news of Om Prakash’s death began to spread on social media. His nephew, who was driving, broke the news on their way back.
“As soon as I heard it, I lost consciousness,” Krishnadev recalled. The last time he saw Om Prakash was when he’d left his bed that night, ignoring his plea to stay back.
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