Five people, including an Indian priest, have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the death of a six-year-old boy in an ashram in Kathmandu, the police said on Wednesday.
Indian national Swami Atma Suddhananda, in-charge of the Pranavananda Ashram, was arrested along with four Nepalese men after Rupesh Giri was found dead in mysterious circumstances on Tuesday, said a police officer at the Bouddha police station.
Even though the post-mortem report is awaited, preliminary investigations show that the boy was beaten to death, the police said. Rupesh's mother Kavita Giri, 32, works in a nearby hotel as a cleaner.
She had admitted the boy just a month ago at the ashram, which is home to some 60 children. Sudhananda, who hails from Kolkata, has been operating the ashram for the past four years.