Nepal's new leader vowed Sunday to follow protesters' demands to "end corruption" as she began work as interim prime minister, after "Gen Z" youth demonstrations ousted her predecessor.
Sushila Karki, the 73-year-old former chief justice, has been tasked with restoring order and addressing protesters' demands for a corruption-free future ahead of elections in six months.
Protests, sparked by a ban on social media and feeding into long-standing economic woes, began on Monday and quickly escalated, with parliament and key government buildings set ablaze.
"We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation," Karki said in her first public comments since taking office on Friday.
A fifth of people in Nepal aged 15-24 are unemployed, according to the World Bank, with GDP per capita standing at just $1,447, in the Himalayan nation of 30 million people.
"What this group is demanding is the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality," she added.
Karki held a minute's silence on Sunday for those killed in the unrest, before meetings began in the key government complex of Singha Durbar -- where several buildings were set on fire during mass protests on Tuesday.
At least 72 people were killed in two days of protests, and 191 injured, the government's chief secretary Eaknarayan Aryal said Sunday, increasing an earlier toll of 51.
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