Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah was briefly the King of Nepal while he was in a coma for three days from 1 to 4 June 2001. As the eldest of the three children of King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, Dipendra was previously the crown prince. During a shooting rampage on 1 June 2001, Dipendra fatally shot his parents, siblings Prince Nirajan and Princess Shruti, and seven other members of the royal family. Dipendra then shot himself, but survived for three days in a coma. Under the Nepalese constitution, the privy council named Dipendra king upon the death of his father. Upon Dipendra's death, his father's brother Gyanendra became king.
Dipendra was interested in the fields of social service and had a keen interest in sports. He used to attend various national and international sports ceremonies where Nepalese players participated. Dipendra became a keen karateka when he was studying in England and had received black belt at around the age of 20. He was a patron of the National Sports Council and Nepal's Scouts. Dipendra also wrote articles that were published in Nepalese periodicals. His writings were often on the motifs of nationhood and nationality.
Nepalese royal massacre
On 1 June 2001, Dipendra allegedly opened fire at a house on the grounds of the Narayanhity Royal Palace, the residence of the Nepalese monarchy, where a party was being held. He shot and killed his father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen Aishwarya, and seven other members of the royal family before shooting himself in the head. Because he had killed most of the line of succession, he became king while in a comatose state from the head wound. His motive for the murders is unknown, but there are various theories. Dipendra desired to marry Devyani Rana, the daughter of an Indian royal family whom he had met in England, but due to her family's lower caste and her father's political alliances, Dipendra's parents objected; he was told that he would have to give up his claim to the throne in order to marry her. Other theories allege that Dipendra was unhappy with the country's shift from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy, and that too much power had been given away following the 1990 People's Movement. Much controversy surrounds the circumstances of the massacre, and even today, with the monarchy abolished, many questions remain within Nepal about its cause. Sources of the yet unanswered questions include details such as the apparent lack of security at the event; the absence of Prince Gyanendra, Dipendra's uncle who succeeded him, from the party; the fact that, despite being right-handed, Dipendra's self-inflicted head-wound was located at his left temple; and finally that the subsequent investigation lasted for only two weeks and did not involve any major forensic analysis.
