Family seeks impartial investigation after woman found hanging in Kanchanpur

Dhangadhi, August 22, 2026 — The maternal family of Pashupati Bam Joshi, who was found dead in a sugarcane field in Kanchanpur’s Belauri Municipality-8, has called for an impartial investigation, alleging that she may have been subjected to prolonged physical and mental abuse by her husband and in-laws.

The family has submitted a complaint to the Area Police Office in Belauri, expressing suspicion over the possible involvement of Joshi’s husband, mother-in-law and father-in-law in her death.

Bam’s maternal home is in Dhangadhi-5. According to her family, she had travelled from Dhangadhi to her husband’s home in Belauri on August 12, and was found hanging in a sugarcane field about three kilometres from the house at around 2 pm the following day. Her body was subsequently postmortemed and handed over to the family.

Joshi’s husband, Hemraj Joshi, is a teacher at a school in Baglung, while Bam was a teacher at a school in Bogtan Fudsil Rural Municipality of Doti.

Her maternal family claims Bam had been facing physical and psychological abuse from her husband and his family for a long period. Devi Singh Bam, a member of her maternal family, said tensions had existed in the relationship from the beginning because of differences between the families.

“Her family had opposed the relationship because of caste differences. Her husband would also threaten that he would marry someone else,” she said, according to the family.

Devi Singh Bam said the couple had been in a relationship before getting married in an arranged marriage about 15 years ago. She said Bam’s family had initially been reluctant to give their daughter to a Brahmin family because they feared such problems could arise.

According to the family, Hemraj had told his parents that he would take his own life if he was not allowed to marry Pashupati. His parents later approached Bam’s family and said they would hold their son responsible if the marriage did not take place. The families eventually agreed to the marriage after learning that the couple wanted to be together.