Unable to withstand the horror of living in their home in Biratnagar since they returned from Kathmandu in mid-July, the bereaved parents have been staying with relatives. They were attending a ´Sohrashraddha´ (a Hindu ritual conducted once every year before Dashain to pay homage to the dead relatives) in the nearby Jhumka town Friday when myrepublica.com managed to talk over phone to their brother-in-law Mohan Sharma.
“Gopal dai and didi usually stay with us and other relatives here. They become sad when they see Khyati´s picture at home," said Sharma, a police inspector, who is married to Radha´s younger sister. The miserable couple has now found in him a good friend in need.
According to Sharma, the company of relatives has somewhat comforted them. They become immensely happy when the newly born baby-girl of Uttara, Sharma´s daughter, nestles on their lap. Uttara befriended Khyati since childhood and gave the good news of becoming a mother 11 days before the latter was murdered after abduction. “Nothing but my granddaughter now seems to make them forget the trauma they have been through. They have to get over what happened and move on with life,” said Sharma.
The friends and relatives of Shrestha couple are now mulling to set up a trust in the name of Khyati. Relatives believe that such a philanthropic deed, which would immortalize Kyati´s name, might allay the couple´s pain. “The more you run away from the reality, the more it haunts,” Sharma said. He thinks that setting up the trust would give Kyati´s parents a reason to feel good about themselves.
Gopal, 64, now likes to travel more than ever and engage his mind. The Sharma and Shrestha families visited several places together over the last two months and now plan to make a long pilgrimage after Dashain. “Pilgrimage will surely help muster faith and courage I think they need most to begin life afresh,” said Sharma. “Another way to get over the trauma could be to spend their time reading spiritual books. We are inspiring them to read spiritual and philosophical books,” he added. The Shrestha couple had returned to Biratnagar after the killer of their daughter, Biren Pradhan, was sent to judicial custody on July 16.
The murder of Khyati, 19, by the inveterate gambler Biren, who was close to the Shrestha family since the time they had rented his former house in Balaju, took place on June 5 with unimaginable cruelty. Khayti´s family had come to Kathmandu from Biratnagar for her higher studies.
Biren, a former teacher of reputed school in the capital, also used his ex-student Merina Shakya, 16, in his devilish scheme. After he abducted and murdered Khyati at his own residence in Nayabaazar, he chopped the body into over a dozen pieces and scattered them in three different places supposedly to conceal his crime. He had taken Rs 1 million from Shrestha´s family as ransom before being arrested in the capital 17 days after the incident. He did not repent his brutal act till he was sent to judicial custody.
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