Two Elderly Villagers Killed by Wild Elephants in Jhapa, Police Say
Lajuma Khatun, 70, and Jhakku Rajbanshi, 73, were on a dawn walk near Biring Khola when the elephants attacked.
Two elderly residents of the same village in Jhapa district died on Tuesday, October 20, after two wild elephants attacked them during a dawn walk near Biring Khola, the District Police Office Jhapa said.
Lajuma Khatun, 70, and Jhakku Rajbanshi, 73, both lived at Janata Chowk in Barhadashi Rural Municipality-2, in Nepal's eastern Terai near the border with India. They were on their morning walk around 5:30 am when the elephants attacked, Ranjan Awal, information officer at the District Police Office Jhapa, told Nagarik News. For families in Jhapa's villages near the forest, this is a risk that keeps coming back. The Division Forest Office counts about five deaths a year, myRepublica reported.
Khatun died on the way to the hospital, Awal said. Rajbanshi was taken to B&C Hospital in nearby Birtamod for treatment but died there, Awal told Nagarik News. Nepal Press also reported the deaths on October 20.
What the coverage missed
Neither Nagarik News nor Nepal Press said how often this happens in Jhapa. The Division Forest Office in Bhadrapur says wild elephants killed 80 people in Jhapa between June 17, 2010, and July 16, 2026, myRepublica and Radio Nepal Online reported. That is about five deaths a year, Division Forest Officer Nathuni Yadav told Radio Nepal Online and myRepublica. The worst year was 2023, when eight people died, including three women, myRepublica reported, citing Yadav. Ten of the 80 dead were foreign nationals, myRepublica added.
Forest encroachment, growing settlements, elephants' attraction to crops and the blocking of traditional elephant corridors are driving the conflict, Yadav told myRepublica.
The coverage also left out what happens next for a family after such a death. Families of each person killed in the last fiscal year, 2025/26, received one million rupees in relief, about 7,500 dollars, Yadav told myRepublica. Neither Nagarik News nor Nepal Press said whether Khatun's or Rajbanshi's families have applied for that payment.
What we still do not know
- Have Khatun's and Rajbanshi's families applied for the one million rupee government relief, and how long will it take to arrive. The Division Forest Office in Bhadrapur and Barhadashi Rural Municipality could answer.
- Is the stretch near Biring Khola and Janata Chowk a recognised elephant corridor, and does it have fencing or an early warning system. The Division Forest Office in Bhadrapur could answer.
- Were the two elephants part of a resident herd in Jhapa or animals that crossed from India, and will they be tracked. The Division Forest Office in Bhadrapur and Nepal's wildlife authorities could answer.
Get stories like this every morning
One free email with the day's checked stories, each with what the coverage missed.
Sources
- Nagarik News · Primary account of the attack: victims' names, ages, location, time and police attribution to Ranjan Awal.
- Nepal Press · Corroborating report confirming the deaths on October 20.
- Radio Nepal Online · Division Forest Office, Bhadrapur figure of 80 elephant attack deaths in Jhapa over 16 years and the average of five deaths a year.
- myRepublica · Detail on the exact 16 year date range, the worst year (2023), foreign national toll, causes of the conflict and the one million rupee relief figure, citing Division Forest Officer Nathuni Yadav.
Editorial review record
Why it ran today
- ranking judge 1: ranked #2 with 70/100. Jhapa police information officer Ranjan Awal confirmed two named elderly villagers were killed. Nagarik carries his account, and the advocate cites a Kathmandu Post report that Rajbanshi died in ICU at 10:40 am, which the writer must check before citing. The Dashain home safety angle fits the season. The desk can add the decade trend, if it re-checks the Rising Nepal figure of about 56 deaths with the Division Forest Office, and the compensation process. Weakest dimension is share identity.
- ranking judge 2: ranked #2 with 70/100. Confirmed at rank 2. Jhapa police information officer Ranjan Awal confirmed two named elderly villagers were killed on a morning walk, and Nagarik carries his account. It fits the Dashain home safety angle. The desk can add the decade trend and the compensation process once the Rising Nepal figure of about 56 deaths and the Kathmandu Post ICU detail are checked. Weakest dimension is share identity.
What the desk dug up
- The numbers. The commonly cited toll of 56 elephant-attack deaths in Jhapa over 10 years (from a 2022 report) is well out of date; the district's own Division Forest Office says the toll has since risen to 80 deaths over 16 years (June 2010 to mid-July 2026), with an average of five deaths a year and the single worst year (2023) recording eight deaths. [Radio Nepal Online, citing Division Forest Office Jhapa (Bhadrapur)] [myRepublica, citing Division Forest Officer Nathuni Yadav]
Validation
1 red team round, 2 revisions. Decision: approved.
- accuracy88
- relevance80
- defensibility88
- reach60
Judge 1: The core event is clean against Nagarik News. Names, ages, place, time and police attribution all check. But the piece ignores the ranking orders' instruction to re-check the Rising Nepal 56 figure. It invents a 'grown sharply' trend, widens a one year relief payment into a standing rule, and overstates a Nepal Press page that never loaded. The card fails the word rule and the trigger ties money to a death. All of this is fixable in one pass.
Judge 2: I checked the article against the fetched pages, and all four ordered edits are in it. The caption hook now says 'Before them... had killed 80 people... since 2010'. The social hook gives the June 2010 to July 2026 range. The long caption sentence is split, and the third caption paragraph uses the 'counted 80... to July this year' wording. The core event matches Nagarik News citing police officer Ranjan Awal. The toll, the 2023 figure, the foreign nationals count and the 2025/26 relief all match myRepublica and Radio Nepal Online, with no hedged claim stated flat and no unsourced sentence added. Small style slips remain: subheadings in a body near 450 words, and question bullets ending in full stops. None breaks a fact, so the brief is publishable.
The complete record, including the advocate, skeptic, red team and defence arguments, is kept by the newsroom.
Readers' comments
Say what you know. A comment shows once the desk has read it, usually within the hour. A question gets its answer from the story's record.
No comments yet. Be the first.