At around 7:15 a.m. on September 6, just hours after Nepal imposed a ban on 26 social media platforms, an official jeep linked to Koshi province minister Ram Bahadur Magar struck 11-year-old Usha Magar Sunuwar outside Harisiddhi Secondary School in Lalitpur.
CCTV footage showed the child being thrown to the roadside as the vehicle sped off. She survived with injuries, but the image of a schoolgirl abandoned by a government convoy spread rapidly across phones, triggering a wave of public outrage.
What could have remained a road mishap soon became a flashpoint. Then-Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, later unseated, downplayed the incident as a "normal accident," saying only that the party would cover her medical expenses.
For many Nepalis, the remark symbolised a broader culture of impunity among the political class. "That one statement exposed the deep indifference at the heart of our politics," said Yog Raj Lamichhane, assistant professor at Pokhara University.
"If a minister's car hits a schoolgirl and the prime minister calls it normal, what message does that send to ordinary people?" In his official statement, Oli confirmed that the girl was being treated in hospital and that her costs would be borne by the party.
He expressed sorrow over the episode and wished her a quick recovery, stressing that the incident had not been intentional. "This was an unfortunate accident. The party will ensure her full treatment. We are saddened and hope she recovers soon," he said.
Oli also criticised attempts, in his view, to exploit the accident to disrupt the UML's general convention, urging that attention remain on the child's health. But the episode fed into a larger wave of anger already building around what young citizens had dubbed the "nepo baby" trend.
Borrowed from Hollywood parlance, the term refers to children of influential families benefitting from nepotism. On TikTok, Reddit, and other platforms, Nepalis circulated images and clips of the children of political elites - including former prime ministers and ministers - accusing them of enjoying taxpayer-funded privileges, luxury travel, and foreign education.
The posts, shared under hashtags such as #PoliticiansNepoBabyNepal, #NepoKids, and #NepoBabies, went viral, with one TikTok video alone crossing 1.3 million views, according to the Kathmandu Post. By September 8, the discontent spilled onto the streets.
Demonstrations began outside Nepal's Parliament in New Baneshwar, Kathmandu, with demands ranging from lifting the social media ban to the prime minister's resignation. Protesters also called for the creation of an independent corruption watchdog, similar to an ombudsman.
Though the rallies started peacefully, the government deployed a heavy security presence, sparking violent clashes. Demonstrations spread to other towns and cities including Damak, Itahari, Birtamod, Biratnagar, Bharatpur, Janakpur, Pokhara, Birgunj, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Tulsipur, and Dhangadhi, with some crowds even marching on the prime minister's residence in Damak. The confrontations turned deadly. On September 8, clashes in Kathmandu and across the country left 22 people dead, unleashing a surge of violence nationwide the following day.
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