Nepal’s first female prime minister made hospital visits to injured protesters her first official act on Saturday, as the country slowly returned to normalcy under military watch.
Sushila Karki, 73, visited two hospitals to meet families of protesters wounded when police opened fire on anti-corruption demonstrators, a day after taking her oath as interim prime minister following unprecedented violence that killed at least 51 people.
She also visited the sites that were damaged and set on fire by protesters. Nepal police on their social media handles shared photos of Karki visiting the sites across the city.
Karki was sworn in Friday night after day-long deliberations between President Ramchandra Poudel, army officials and Gen Z representatives, while citizens remained confined to their homes under strict military curfew.
Saturday morning brought the first lifting of curfew restrictions since protests erupted Monday, allowing citizens onto Kathmandu’s streets where volunteers swept debris from the week of violence. The scene drew praise from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who congratulated Karki “on behalf of 1.4 billion Indians” and highlighted the cleanup efforts.
The former Supreme Court chief justice has not yet announced her cabinet, with the president’s office saying it awaits her nominations. Karki declined to speak with reporters.
Despite the political breakthrough, security concerns kept army personnel stationed at government buildings while ordinary citizens flocked to photograph damage at the Parliament, Supreme Court and luxury hotels torched during the uprising.
“The building has been totally damaged inside,” said an officer guarding Parliament, now become a popular selfie destination for residents documenting the historic week.
By evening, civic authorities began removing a charred vehicle blocking traffic near Parliament, with plans to whitewash anti-government graffiti from the building’s walls once crowds thin.
The violence has unleashed a security crisis, with an estimated 7,000 to 12,000 prisoners escaping from jails across multiple districts after inmates set fire to prison complexes. Facilities as far as Rajbiraj and Saptari near the Bihar border reported mass breakouts alongside local Kathmandu prisons.
India’s border force has apprehended more than 79 escapees since Wednesday with four arrested in Uttarakhand on Saturday.
Kathmandu’s Nakku jail authorities issued surrender appeals to over 600 escaped inmates, promising no action if they return within 24 hours. The Bhimphedi facility, 59 kilometres from the capital, reported 450 prisoners fled.
“The main worry is not the protesters but those with arms and ammunition stolen from police stations,” said an army officer posted near the charred Parliament building on Friday night. Police stations were ransacked after security forces opened fire on demonstrators, with weapons looted and officers beaten before facilities were torched.
Rajiv Giri, who witnessed the New Baneshwor police station attack, said officers “were forced to jump into the river” to escape mobs who then burned the nearby Kantipur media group headquarters.
Army-enforced curfews from 7pm to 7am remain in effect, though residents receive several hours daily to purchase food and supplies.
Families of slain protesters marched Saturday demanding the government declare victims martyrs and establish a fact-finding commission. Binita Shrestha, whose 22-year-old brother Sri Krishna died in the protests, said families would not claim bodies until their demands were met.
Speculation centres on Karki’s cabinet choices, with former electricity chief Kulman Ghising, Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah—a former rapper—and members of the Hami Nepal youth group mentioned as possibilities.
The demonstrations began Monday over government bans on 26 social media platforms but escalated over deeper grievances about corruption and economic inequality. Though the social media restrictions were lifted, protesters continued attacking government buildings until Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned Tuesday.
Karki has six months to organise elections in the Himalayan nation of 30 million people, which has experienced its worst violence since the monarchy’s 2008 abolition following a decade-long civil war.
Meanwhile, Nepal president Ram Chandra Paudel in a statement on Saturday evening requested all political parties to cooperate in holding elections on March 5. “After difficult efforts, a way forward has been achieved. The constitutional provision and parliamentary system has been preserved. People have found the choice of electing a democratic government in another 6 months. I appeal to all in cooperating in the opportunity to hold elections,” he said in a statement.
In a related development, eight political parties that were part of the now dissolved Parliament in the House of Representatives said that dissolving the Parliament was unconstitutional. The parties also condoned the deaths of the protesters and destruction of properties during the violence.
