The police tell the news agency AFP that a demonstrator was shot to death in connection with the demonstrations degenerating and security forces firing live ammunition and using tear gas in an attempt to disperse the demonstration. A journalist died after demonstrators set fire to the building he was filming from.
Several other buildings – including offices belonging to political parties and media companies – and vehicles were vandalized, according to the police.
The monarchy was abolished in Nepal in 2008 after 240 years. King Gyanendra was forced to relinquish his real power after large popular protests in 2006, and a constituent assembly voted in 2008 to abolish the monarchy and introduce a republic with a president as head of state.
The demonstrators are also demanding that the country's former status as a Hindu state be reinstated. In 2008, the country went from being a Hindu monarchy to a secular democracy.
