Two arrested in Nepal for stealing gold earrings from flood victim's body

Outrage has spread online after a video emerged showing two men stealing gold earrings from a flood victim's body, as the death toll from massive flooding along the Nepal-China border climbs to at least 359. Local police launched an investigation and arrested both men on theft charges.

According to Moneycontrol and other foreign media, a video circulating on social media showed the two men removing gold earrings from a body swept downstream by the floodwaters.

In the footage, the men probe a body floating on the water with long wooden sticks. One man used two sticks to prop up the body's neck while the other grabbed the victim's hair and pulled out the earrings.

Bystanders can also be seen watching the incident unfold. The body is believed to have been carried downstream to the lower reaches of the Narayani River by the massive flooding triggered by a landslide in Tibet.

As the video spread rapidly on social media and public anger mounted, Chitwan police moved to identify the individuals shown. Officers identified the two men from the footage and arrested them near the Pokhara bus terminal in Zone 1 of Bharatpur Metropolitan City.

The suspects were identified as Madan Gurung, 25, a resident of Binai Triveni Rural Municipality in Nawalparasi, and Umesh Chaudhary, 38, a resident of Bharatpur.

The two men committed the theft while recovery teams were working to retrieve and identify bodies found along the banks of the Narayani and Trishuli rivers in the aftermath of the disaster.

They were transferred to a local police station for further questioning, and police said they would investigate the full circumstances of the incident.

Chitwan District Police Chief Rameshwar Paudel said authorities would not tolerate looting or any other inhumane acts targeting disaster victims or the dead.

Chitwan police urged anyone with information or evidence of looting, theft, or other inhumane conduct related to the disaster to report it to authorities immediately.

The disaster struck around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, when a massive landslide and flood — believed to have been triggered by a glacial collapse — hit the Himalayan region along the Nepal-China border, killing at least 359 people and leaving more than 900 missing.

Of the total missing, 517 are foreign nationals and more than 200 are Nepali. Nine South Koreans are also among the missing — six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three from Korea South-East Power (KOEN), who were working at a hydropower plant construction site in the area at the time.