Dipendra of Nepal
From MedBib.com - Medicine & Nature
Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah (June 27, 1971 – June 4, 2001) was King of Nepal from June 1 to June 4, 2001. As Crown Prince, he killed his family at a royal dinner, including the previous King, on June 1, 2001. Dipendra was also mortally wounded by what the official report characterizes as a self-inflicted gunshot to the side of the head. After the murder of his father, he officially became king for three days as he lingered in a coma.
Education
Dipendra received his early education at Budhanilkantha School, Kathmandu.
He was then educated at Eton College, England. The prince had been disciplined while at Eton for selling alcohol.
After Eton, he attended Tribhuvan University in Nepal and later joined the Military Academy, Kharipati. He studied through his master's degree from Tribhuvan University and was a PhD student in the same University. He was known to have been skilled in karate.
Motive for murder
-
Official reports state that Dipendra assassinated family members because of anger over a marriage dispute.[1] Dipendra's choice of a bride was Devyani Rana, daughter of Pashupati SJB Rana (C Class), a member of the Rana clan, against whom the Shah family of kings have a historic animosity. In recent times, though, Shah kings and princes have married almost exclusively members of the A Class Rana family. The Rana clan had served as the hereditary prime ministers of Nepal until 1951, with the title Maharaja, and the two clans have a long history of inter-marriages.
According to official accounts, Dipendra was denied his choice of a wife by his mother Aiswarya, and so he massacred his family in a much-publicised incident after indulging in a drinking binge. Among the dead were his father King Birendra, mother, brother, and sister. Dipendra survived comatose for three days, and was proclaimed King in his hospital bed. He died of his injuries on June 4 and was succeeded by his uncle, Prince Gyanendra[2].
Conspiracy theories
Some people in Nepal suspected that Gyanendra was responsible for the massacre, and that he blamed Dipendra so that he could assume the throne himself.[1] Gyanendra, less popular than his brother Birendra, had been third in line to the throne before the massacre. He was out of town (in Pokhara) during the massacre and was the closest surviving relative of the king. Gyanendra's wife and son were in the room at the royal palace during the massacre. While his son escaped with slight injuries,[3] his wife was injured during the incident.[4]
Recently, a Nepali writer, Ashutosh Shrivastav, in his article published that India and Nepali political parties could jointly have committed this crime [1]. The writer has exposed the Indian expansionism over Nepal[2]. This is a developing story and more news is expected to come.
Feeding the rumours is the allegation that Dipendra was mortally wounded by a gunshot to the left side of the head, while Dipendra was right-handed. Some believe that this casts doubt on whether the injury was self-inflicted.[5][6]
Despite the fact that several survivors have publicly confirmed that Dipendra was doing the shooting, as was documented in a BBC documentary,[7] many Nepali people still consider it a mystery. Neelesh Misra, who covered the tragedy for The Associated Press, in his book "End of The Line: The Story of the Killing of the Royals in Nepal"[8], offers for the first time the true story behind the massacre. Portrayed in the book is the developing family drama, which culminated in the killings on 1 June 2001. Besides revealing the inside drama, the book traces the sequence of events on that black Friday and answers questions that have puzzled people since. Revealed is the fact that Crown Prince Dipendra had, in any case, decided to marry his beloved, Devyani Rana, regardless of parental opposition. Highlighted too is the bizarre series of omissions on that evening when an entire royal family was wiped out in the close vicinity of its elite guardsmen.
See also
References
External links
