Deaths from mob violence and violence against women-children increased: MSF

Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation (MSF) has claimed that mob and political violence across the country has increased alarmingly in August compared to July. The organization has also informed that the number of recovery of unidentified bodies has also increased during the same period.

MSF has highlighted these pieces of information in the human rights situation observation and monitoring report of July and August 2026. Various human rights situations including violence, loss of life, arrests, deaths in custody, attacks on journalists, border situation, persecution of minorities and recovery of unidentified bodies in various regions of the country have been analyzed in the report.

According to the information of the report, although 31 people were killed and 58 injured in mob violence in July the number of deaths increased to 35 and the number of injured stood at 74 in August.

The number of injured has also increased significantly in political violence. Although 95 people were injured in such incidents in July 267 people were injured in August. However the number of deaths has decreased from seven to five. According to MSF, the number of injured increasing so much has created concern over the spread and intensity of political conflicts.

Some changes have also been seen in the cases filed after the anti-discrimination student movement of 2024 and the fall of the government. The number of accused in these cases has decreased from 600 in July to 240 in August. However the number of arrested accused has increased from 126 to 205. The number of arrests in special drives has also increased from 5,196 in July to 5,618 in August. According to the observation of MSF, a large part of these arrests is drug-related.

Deaths in the custody of law enforcement agencies have decreased from two in July to one in August and deaths in jail custody from nine to five. However MSF is saying that it will not be right to consider this as long-term improvement on the basis of the statistics of two months.

Incidents of attacks on journalists have also increased slightly. Although 36 journalists were victims of attacks in July this number stood at 37 in August. Most of them were victims of attacks at the time of collecting news. Besides, MSF has got the information of arresting one journalist and filing a case against another.

Incidents of recovery of unidentified bodies have also increased. Although 56 unidentified bodies were recovered in July this number increased to 71 in August. Among them 55 are men, 14 are women. The gender and age of the remaining two could not be identified.

MSF thinks that ensuring the rule of law, stopping mob justice, controlling political violence, preventing arbitrary arrests and ensuring accountability in custody and jail are urgent for the improvement of the human rights situation. Alongside the organization has also given importance on ensuring the freedom of journalists and expression of opinion, the life and dignity of citizens at the border and the security of minorities and marginalized populations.