Some survivors and relatives of missing persons have taken to social media to appeal for information and criticise the pace of search operations, only to be met with a torrent of hostile comments. In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Balendra Shah warned that authorities would 'show no leniency' to people who 'belittle those in pain or seek to cause them further suffering at this sensitive time', calling them criminals.
Nepali police say they are investigating where the comments originated to identify addresses and phone numbers. The crackdown follows cases such as that of a woman whose brother has been missing since the floods struck two weeks ago. She told the BBC that search and rescue operations were too slow and that she later 'received many nasty comments' in response to her criticism. 'We are already suffering so much and this has only added to our pain,' she said.
In another case, a young woman expressed anger at authorities' 'lack of urgency' in searching for her husband. In a viral video clip she said: 'My husband is missing now, if the government cannot find him, can it at least show me his body?' The video attracted insults: one comment urged her to 'jump into the river' and help with the search, while another said 'not everything happens just by you putting the blame on the government'.
However, some social media users have called out the insensitive remarks. 'The victim should be consoled at this time, not cursed,' one comment read. The government's response signals growing recognition of the psychological harm caused by online harassment in the wake of a natural disaster.