Mahendranagar, Nov 16: Kailidevi Bohara of Bajhang Khaptadchhanna rural municipality-7 was busy in household chores at her landlord’s house in Bangalore, India on September 8.
In the evening Kailidevi’s relatives telephoned her saying her son was no more. Kailidevi, who had been working in Bangalore to give better education to her children, felt that she lost everything and nothing had remained for her in the world as well as someone had snatched her breath away.
Kailidevi’s eldest son, Subhas, died from a gunshot of police in Kathmandu during Gen Z protest in the afternoon on the same day. She could no longer bear the pain of losing her son who was the hope of her life.
“I and Subhas on September 7 had conversation about visiting home in Dashain. I was about to talk with him on the day on the incident after completing my works, but I got the information about his death,” said Kailidevi with tear-filled eyes.
Kaili Devi had gone to Bangalore around 10 months ago for labour. After the death of Subhas, her relatives in Bangalore had sent her to Kathmandu in a plane after collecting donation, she said.
Now, Kailidevi is living in a rented room located at Sinamangal, Kathmandu, with her youngest son. “After losing my son, I have not been able to think what to do and how to spend my rest of life. Subhas used to say that he would go to abroad and raise the family, but such incident happened, “shared Kaili Devi.
Kailidevi had gone to Kathmandu along with her youngest son, Sandip, who was studying in Class 9 in Dhangadhi, after Subhas attained martyrdom.
“A madam has taken a responsibility of education of Sandip in a Tinkune based school for next three years. Otherwise, no one has visited her to ask about my pain. We– I and my son have been living as orphans,” she lamented.
Kailidevi mentioned, “We have been facing financial crisis after they started living in Kathmandu. I have to pay Rs 6,000 as a rent monthly. I even don’t know how I will make it for the rent and other expenses.”
The pain that has entered Kailidevi’s life is not a recent occurrence; it began last year when her husband went missing. Deepak Bohara, her husband, was employed as a labourer in Bangalore, India.
A year ago, he returned home and then made his way from Bajhang to Dhangadhi. Since that time, the family has had no communication with him.
Following her husband’s disappearance, Kailidevi traveled to Bangalore to work as a laborer herself. “For ten months, I went from door to door in Bangalore, paying rent, and earned around 20,000 rupees each month.
During Dashain festival, I sent 10,000 rupees back home to my youngest son. Subhas mentioned it would be okay to send it a few days later as well,” she recounted. First, her husband vanished, and now her son has left, leaving only a mother and son in Kailidevi’s household.
With no source of income, the family is beginning to encounter financial hardships. Currently, she is in Kathmandu searching for ways to earn a living with her son. When Bhimraj became a martyr, the family business fell apart.
During the Gen-Z Movement, on September 9, in Kalimati, Kathmandu, 28-year-old Bhimraj Dhami from Durgathali Rural Municipality-1, Bajhang, was shot and killed. Dhami had been managing a cow farm and dairy in Kirtipur for six years and was the youngest of eight siblings.
Following Dhami’s martyrdom, his elder brother, Ammaraj Dhami, who is the ward chairperson of Durgathali rural municipality-1, stated that the family has been shattered.
“Leaving behind a three-month-old breastfed child, my brother Bhim left us forever in Kalimati,” Ward Chairperson Dhami expressed. “He had traveled to Kathmandu with plans to go to Korea, but when that trip fell through, he continued to run the business in Kirtipur.” At present, it is challenging to maintain the cow farm and dairy that Bhimraj operated.
“I had invested about Rs 5 million into the business, but everything was destroyed after the incident. On one hand, there is family turmoil, and on the other, difficulties in managing the business,” he explained, adding that the government has initiated the process of recognizing his brother as a martyr and providing compensation.
