KATHMANDU, July 28: The CCTV footage offers a grim final glimpse of Rashmi Rijal’s movements before she was found dead inside her electric car in Tarakeshwar.
Police say the footage shows the 45-year-old driving alone to the site, parking her vehicle at the Chuni Devi Sand Processing Centre in Tarakeshwar-1, Baluwabas, and moving from the driver’s seat to the rear seat. She then appears to have closed all the windows before allegedly dousing herself with petrol and setting herself on fire.
Rijal, an employee of Sanima Capitals, had been missing since Friday morning. Her family reported her missing after she failed to return home. Police found her body inside the parked vehicle on Saturday after receiving information about a suspicious car at the sand processing centre.
The vehicle’s tinted windows initially prevented officers from seeing inside. When police opened the car, they found Rijal’s body on the rear seat, while the car key was in the front section of the vehicle.
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According to investigators, the fire did not spread extensively because all the windows were shut, limiting damage to the vehicle. Police suspect that Rijal died from burn injuries and oxygen depletion, although the exact cause of death will be established through the post-mortem report.
Rijal, originally from Belkotgadhi Municipality in Nuwakot, had been living in Manmaiju, Kathmandu.
The post-mortem was completed on Sunday, after which her family received the body for the last rites.
Police’s preliminary findings, however, have not settled the matter for Rijal’s family. They have filed a complaint demanding an impartial investigation and legal action if the involvement of anyone else is established.
Police said the case has been registered under offences relating to unnatural death and that further investigation is underway.
