Video: Nepal Finance Minister Chased Through Street, Kicked, Thrashed

The Gen Z-led protests are taking on an increasingly fierce tone in Nepal. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oil's house was set on fire, his Finance Minister, Bishnu Prasad Paudel, was chased through Kathmandu streets, show videos. 

The protests, which began on Monday with demands that the government lift a ban on social media and tackle corruption, reignited despite the apps going back online.

Kathmandu police spokesman Shekhar Khanal said that several groups had refused to obey a curfew on Tuesday, telling AFP there were protesters in the street in many areas, and "cases of fire and attacks".

Mr Paudel, 65, is seen running through the streets of Kathmandu, with scores of people behind him. A young protester, from the opposite direction, jumps and kicks the minister down, who is thrown off balance and crashes into a red wall, shows the video.

The Nepal minister, shows the video, wastes no time and is back on his feet, and runs again. 

The video cuts off at this point.

Earlier, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who started his fourth term last year after his Communist Party forged a coalition government with the centre-left Nepali Congress, resigned after youth protesters demanded he quit, a day after one of the deadliest crackdowns in years in which at least 19 people were killed.

His resignation followed that of three other ministers, and despite the government repealing the ban on social media sites. 

Several social media sites -- including Facebook, YouTube and X -- were blocked on Friday in the Himalayan nation of 30 million people, after the government cut access to 26 unregistered platforms.

Since Friday, videos contrasting the struggles of ordinary Nepalis with the children of politicians flaunting luxury goods and expensive vacations have gone viral on TikTok, which was not blocked.