Madhyabindu (Nawalparasi), 13 February: Dhanmaya Sarki, 70, of Kawasoti Municipality-4, Nawalparasi (east of Bardaghat Susta), has not stopped shedding tears for the past 10 months.
Dhanmaya’s eyes have not stopped tears since hearing the news that her daughter, who had gone to Malaysia for employment, was murdered. The last call was from her daughter, Tilmaya Sarki, from Malaysia, on the day of Mata Tirtha Aunsi, on 8 May. A week later, another call came and she learned that her 25-year-old daughter, Tilmaya, had been murdered. She has been restless since then.
It has been 10 months since the murder of Tilmaya, who left her six-year-old daughter in the care of her mother after her divorce from her husband, but neither the body nor the relief money has arrived yet. Despite many attempts over a long period of time, the elderly mother and her minor daughter have not been able to bring the body back to Nepal, which has further increased the anxiety of the elderly mother and her minor daughter. Mother Dhanmaya has been visiting the ward office and municipality for the past 10 months to bring her daughter’s body back.
He complains that despite completing all the paperwork to retrieve the body and sending it to Malaysia, there has been no hearing. “It has been 10 months since I was hoping for the body to come, but I have neither seen the body nor received the relief money,” he said. “I still have to go to wherever I can take this granddaughter, I have not been able to find a way.”
Tilmaya’s sister, Neelmaya Sarki, said that even after the news of Tilmaya’s murder, she requested that all the documents be collected and the body be brought to the immigration center, but no response has been received so far. “If the body or documents do not arrive on time, there is also a concern that the relief from the state will not be received,” she said. “No matter what happens, if we get some relief, it would have helped in raising this daughter.”
Ranjana Lamsal, a consultant at the Safe Migration Center (Sami Project), said that even though the necessary documents were sent to Malaysia to verify the relationship as soon as the news of the death came, the body has not yet been brought to Nepal. “According to the Malaysian Embassy, we have received information that sending the body to Nepal without a final conclusion on the investigation will cause problems in resolving the case. We are concerned that the minor will lose the relief due to the delay in resolving the case,” she said.
According to the Foreign Employment Board’s rules, an application for financial assistance must be submitted within one year of the date of death. The body was delayed in arriving as a case has been filed against a Pakistani youth for the murder of Tilmaya and the body also needs to be investigated, said Foreign Employment Board spokesperson Tikaram Dhakal. “The embassy had informed us that it took a long time to mobilize the body,” he said. “Despite taking steps to bring the body to Nepal after it was identified, we have received information that the body is still in the hospital and the hospital has not even certified the death certificate.”
According to the data of the Safe Migration Center, 18 people who went for foreign employment from Nawalparasi (east of Bardaghat Susta) have died till 1st week February of the current fiscal year. The bodies of three of those who died during this period are yet to arrive in Nepal.
