Nepalese royal massacre
| Nepalese Royal Massacre | |
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The Narayanhity Royal Palace, former home of the Royal Family. Following the abdication of the king and the founding of a republic, the building and its grounds have been turned into a museum.
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| Location | Narayanhity Royal Palace, Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Date | 1 June 2001 (19 Jestha 2058 B.S.) Around 21:00 (UTC+05:45) |
| Target | The Nepalese Royal Family King Birendra of Nepal |
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Attack type
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Fratricide, patricide, sororicide, regicide, matricide, avunculicide, mass murder, murder-suicide, massacre |
| Weapons |
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| Deaths | 10 (including the perpetrator) |
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Non-fatal injuries
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5 |
The Nepalese Royal Massacre occurred on 1 June 2001, at a house on the grounds of the Narayanhity Royal Palace, the residence of the Nepalese monarchy. Ten members of the family were killed during a party or monthly reunion dinner of the royal family in the house. The dead included King Birendra of Nepal and Queen Aishwarya.
Later, upon his father's death, Prince Dipendra became de jure King of Nepal while in coma, and he died in the hospital three days after the massacre without recovering from this coma.
Birendra's brother Gyanendra became king after the massacre and the death of King Dipendra.
According to reports, at the dinner, Crown Prince Dipendra had been drinking heavily, had smoked large quantities of hashish and "misbehaved" with a guest which resulted in his father King Birendra telling Dipendra, who was his oldest son, to leave the party. Crown Dipendra was escorted to his room by his brother Prince Nirajan and cousin Prince Paras.
About an hour later, Dipendra returned to the party armed with an H&K MP5, a Franchi SPAS-12 and an M16. He fired a single shot into the ceiling before pointing the gun at his father, King Birendra. When his uncle Dhirendra tried to dissuade Dipendra from doing so, he shot his uncle in the chest at point-blank range. This was the beginning of the massacre. During the attack, Dipendra darted in and out of the hall several times, firing shots at each return. Although King Birendra managed to stay alive at the first attack, he sustained some injuries. Excerpts from the official probe report, prepared by a two-member committee in Kathmandu, states that King Birendra made an abortive last-minute attempt to shoot at Dipendra as the latter fired indiscriminately at the royals. Dipendra had thrown the 9mm caliber MP5 automatic submachine gun into the billiards room, when he returned for a second time. The king managed to take hold of it, however, his sister Princess Shova Shahi snatched the weapon from him and pulled out the magazine of the gun assuming it to be the only weapon Dipendra had. While this continued, Prince Paras suffered slight injuries and managed to save at least three royals, including two children, by pulling a sofa over them. The above version of the story is reportedly the one that Shova Shahi told the official committee. Corroborating Shova Shahi's version, Prince Paras is quoted as having said, "She [Shova] must have thought that it was the only weapon Dai (Dipendra) had but I saw that he had much more weapons."
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Wikipedia