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Families of Naar victims bereft of support

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POKHARA, Aug 11: Maite Gurung survived the loss of his sons in the Naar incident two months ago. But life ahead had never seemed so tough for the sixty-year old. Gurung lost his sons Gyan Bahadur, 33, and Bir Bahadur, 18, in the tragic incident in mid-June when seven yarchagumba pickers of Keraunja village in Gorkha were brutally killed by locals of Naar, Manang, for encroaching on their territory. [break]



"We lived on the wages earned by our sons. Now with our sons gone, we are bereft of any support,” rues Maite.



The family received Rs 25,000 from Gorkha District Development Committee (DDC), Rs 30,000 from Manang and Rs 5,000 from Keraunja Village Development Committee in compensation for each death but that is not enough to support the family for long.



Bir Bahadur has left behind his wife, a one-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter.



"The harvest of the field cannot last beyond three months. I am worried about my little grandchildren," said a misty-eyed Maite.



Gyan Bahadur used to travel to villages to work as mason. The locals said that Maite´s sons had hoped to find work in Naar after the yarchagumba picking season came to an end. Bir Bahadur, a seventh-grader, had gone to help his brother during his holidays. "He (Gyan Bahadur) knew most of the people in Naar and had hoped they would spare him. But they didn´t," recalls Maite.



Buddhi Bahadur Gurung also has similar story to tell. The youngest son of the family, he lost his brother Kanchha in the incident and now has to support Kanchha´s three-year-old daughter and a nine-month son as his two elder brothers live separately.



Kanchha had returned home in January after two years of toil in Malaysia did not bear much fruit. "Kanchha had yet to repay his loans that he took before going to Malaysia. How will I pay the loan?" wonders Buddhi Bahadur, a 12th grader at the Manamohan Memorial College in Kathmandu.



Far from supporting Kanchha´s widow and children, Buddhi Bahadur fears that he may not be able to pay for his education after death of his supporting brother.



The villagers of Keraunja have yet to receive bodies of five of the seven killed in the incident. "The inability to find the body has compounded matters," says Sarki Gurung, who lost his 18-year-old sibling Kami. Sobar Gurung, Dhruba Gurung, and Aita Ram Gurung were the others killed in the Naar incident.



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