Who is accountable for Ganesh Nepali’s death?

His tragedy is not merely a localised incident of a fine gone wrong. It is a symptom of a deeper, more systemic rot in our urban governance.

On Thursday afternoon at around 1:45 pm, 25-year-old ride-sharing driver Ganesh Nepali set himself ablaze outside the Department of Passports in Tripureshwar following a distressing altercation with a Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) police personnel. Already struggling to repay a Rs300,000 motorcycle loan, Nepali succumbed to his injuries the following day. While a fresh parking violation and wheel lock triggered the act, his family alleges that repeated fines from city authorities ultimately drove him to his breaking point. His final words to his brother remain a haunting indictment: “This is all because of the metropolis.”