Prem Bagale, 20, sold off a pair of oxen, one buffalo, six she-goats, four roosters and some food grain to neighbors before leaving the village for good. Prem wanted to sell his field as well, but no one was ready to buy as the killers of his sister Tulasa, 27, her mother Yam Kumari, 55, daughter Sandhya, 8, and son Sanjeev, 5, are still at large. [break]
Prem said his family no longer felt safe to stay on in the village. "Those men threatening the locals and claiming to be army men are still roaming around," Prem said. "How could we stay on in such a situation?" According to him, a man who came to the village on a motorbike warned locals to keep mum about Tulasa´s murder.
Prem, who has moved to Tansen, is now the sole breadwinner for his aging father and an ailing sister. His father is 76 and too frail to earn money and his 18-year-old sister Bishnu has damaged kidneys. "How could I continue with my studies while looking after my father and sister?" he says.
Police have disclosed the involvement of army personnel in the murder of Tulasa and members of her family, a charge that the Nepal Army denies. But all the assailants have not been arrested.
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