Nepal flood horror: Two men drag victim by hair from river, steal earrings; arrested
PTC News Desk: Amid ongoing rescue operations after the devastating flash floods along the China-Nepal border, two men have been arrested in Nepal for allegedly stealing gold earrings from the body of a woman who was swept away by the floods.
The arrests were made after a 41-second video went viral on social media. The video reportedly showed two men removing what appeared to be gold earrings from the body of a woman recovered from the Narayani River.
Nepal Police later shared the video, confirming that the two men had been detained for allegedly taking the earrings from the dead woman's ears.
मृतकको कानको मुन्द्रा चोरी गर्ने व्यक्तिहरु नियन्त्रणमा लिएको सम्बन्धमा । pic.twitter.com/pnPlnQPn9j — Nepal Police (@NepalPoliceHQ) August 27, 2026
The video showed the men using wooden planks and the woman's hair to pull her body out of the water. They then removed earrings from both ears and kept them aside, while several people nearby watched and recorded the incident.
Chitwan Police later said its investigation confirmed that the body belonged to a woman who had been swept into the Narayani River by the powerful floods.
Using the video footage, police identified the suspects as 25-year-old Madan Gurung and 38-year-old Umesh Chaudhary. According to Nepali media outlet Khabarhub, both were arrested near Pokhara Bus Park in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-1 on Thursday.
Police warned that looting or any other inhumane acts against flood victims would not be tolerated, particularly during the ongoing rescue and relief operations.
Nepal floods
The incident comes as Nepal faces one of its worst flood disasters in recent years. Rescue teams are continuing to search through mud and debris for more than 1,400 people reported missing after flash floods and landslides hit areas near the Nepal-Tibet border. The disaster has claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed entire villages.
On the Tibet side, a powerful mudslide on Wednesday engulfed a multi-storey building at the Gyirong Port border crossing and covered a nearby bus parking area.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that mud in the surrounding areas was more than 1.5 metres (5 feet) deep on average.
Roads leading to the border crossing were badly damaged, while authorities warned that continued rain could trigger further landslides and secondary collapses in the affected region.
- With inputs from agencies
