Kathmandu, Nov 27: The Gen-Z movement has cut short the dreams of 18-year-old Deepak Bahadur Saud, a resident of Madaigaun, Shivanath Rural Municipality–2 of Baitadi district, who had come to Kathmandu to study the Korean language with hopes of securing employment in South Korea and improving his family’s economic condition.
On September 9, Deepak sustained an eye injury after being hit by a police-fired bullet during the protests in Kathmandu’s Kalimati area. The bullet also caused severe damage to his brain, leading to brain death, which ultimately resulted in his demise.
His mother, Laxmi Saud, still breaks down recalling her last conversation with her beloved son. Despite consolations from neighbors and relatives, she remains inconsolable. After hearing that 17 youths had died in Kathmandu and two in Sunsari that day, she had urged Deepak not to join the protests and to stay inside or return home.
“If only he had listened to me, my son would have been alive today,” she says tearfully. But Deepak had expressed his desire to stand with his fellow youths protesting against widespread corruption in the country. “Please do not stop me, Mother. One does not die just by joining a protest,” he had told her.
According to his sister-in-law Saraswati Saud, the family lost contact with Deepak after the evening of September 9. Deepak was living in Kirtipur with two other friends. That night, his friends informed the family that he had been injured and taken to the hospital. However, the next morning, on September 10, the family received the devastating news of his death. “The news shattered all our hopes,” says Saraswati. “We never imagined something like this.”
Deepak was a dedicated student. While preparing for the Korean language proficiency exam, he completed Grade 12 without attending regular classes, after studying up to Grade 11 in a nearby school. The third among five brothers, two of his younger brothers study in the village, while both elder brothers work in Mumbai, India. Upon hearing the news, his eldest brother Birendra rushed to Kathmandu on September 12.
Doctors informed him that Deepak had died from brain damage caused by the bullet injury. “The X-ray clearly showed a bullet lodged in one of his eyes,” he says.
“Nothing will bring my brother back, but the government must fulfill the objectives for which those youths sacrificed their lives,” Birendra adds. Villagers also mourn Deepak’s death, remembering him as an honest and helpful young man. Madaigaun has lost a promising youth.
The government has declared 45 youths, including Deepak, who lost their lives during the Gen-Z protests on September 8 and 9, as martyrs. The family, however, says that declaring them martyrs is not enough; the demands raised by the movement must be addressed with sincere political will and support from all sectors, including political parties and civil society.
Deepak’s story is not merely a personal tragedy—it is the voice of a generation that dared to hope for a brighter, corruption-free future. #nepal #martyrs (Reporting by Dipak Chand/RSS)
