A Nepali national was killed by a Cambodian in South Korea in the wee hours today.

Rajesh Kumar Rai, a resident of Birtamod, Jhapa was employed by a company in Korea. He was drinking and dining last night with friends, when a scuffle broke out that led to his stabbing.

Kaman Singh Lama, Nepal’s Ambassador to South Korea said they were still gathering information about the incident. Local police have said a minor scuffle could have led to Rai’s brutal killing. Ambassador Lama said police have arrested the suspects.

A Nepali national working in Korea said police had arrested three people, including one Nepali and two Cambodians. However, according to the website, police have arrested three Cambodian nationals and the knife used to stab Rai has been retrieved from a nearby river, 60 metres away from the incident site.

According to Nepalikorea.com, Rai was stabbed to death by a Cambodian national today at 1:00 am.

Rai was working in a motor parts company based in Chhungnam Asan.

Quoting police investigation, the website stated the victim was cooking food at 10:30 pm at a Sambutex hostel. Basant Basnet, who was with Rai when the latter was stabbed, said a Cambodian who lived in the same hostel told Rai his room was stinking and that he should stop cooking there. This led to a verbal altercation.

“After the tension subsided, we started drinking alcohol as we ate our meal. It was midnight. The same Cambodian returned and told him not to make noise. He also asked him to switch off the light in the room. Once again they began to scuffle,” the website quoted Basnet. Rai chased the Cambodian away.

“Five minutes later, the man came with two Cambodian friends. They started quarrelling again. Rai pushed away one Cambodian and I pushed away the other man. Suddenly I heard a scream. I saw Rai lying on the road. He died after two minutes,” the website quoted Basnet. The website said nobody saw who had actually stabbed Rai.

“According police investigation, there were four Nepalis there. As Surya Tamang of Nuwakot did not drink, he had gone back to his room at 10:30 pm. Sushil Singh of Bardiya was intoxicated and sleeping in the room and Basant Basnet of Birtamod was chasing away a Cambodian, nobody saw who stabbed Rai,” the website said. The police, it added, have already identified the Cambodian national who stabbed Rai but the suspect has not confessed to the crime. Police said they will investigate further after they get DNA and other forensic reports.

The victim is survived by two daughters.

Published on: 18 February 2013 | The Himalayan Times