Caught on cam: Two arrested for stealing gold earrings from flood victim's body in Nepal

Two people have been arrested for reportedly stealing gold earrings from the body of a deceased woman swept downstream during flooding in the Narayani River of Nepal. This comes amid the rescue operation following the catastrophic flash floods in a border area of China and Nepal.

Both the accused were arrested after a video surfaced on social media showing the two individuals removing what are believed to be gold earrings from the dead body of a woman washed away during the flood. Resharing the 41-second clip, Nepal police confirmed that both the accused have been taken into custody for stealing the earrings.

The footage captured both the men pulling the woman's body from the water using wooden boards and her hair to pull her out before taking her ears and setting them nearby. Later, Chitwan Police determined the body had been carried into the Narayani River by severe flooding.

Accused taken into custody

Based on the video, authorities identified the two men as Madan Gurung, 25, and Umesh Chaudhary, 38. Both were taken into custody near Pokhara Bus Park in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-1 on Thursday, according to police cited by the Nepali outlet Khabarhub. Officials warned that theft or other inhumane conduct toward disaster victims would be met with zero tolerance.

The case has surfaced during one of Nepal's worst flooding disasters in recent memory. Search-and-rescue crews continue combing through mud for over 1,400 people still unaccounted for after flash floods and landslides devastated the Nepal-Tibet border region; the confirmed death toll has climbed to at least 392, with some villages destroyed entirely.

Across the border in Tibet, a massive mudslide on Wednesday buried a multi-level building at the Gyirong Port crossing and covered a bus lot, leaving mud deposits averaging more than 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) deep in nearby areas.