JHAPA, JUNE 19
Bhutanese Civil Society leader and rights activist Dr Bhampa Rai died while receiving treatment in Biratnagar-based Nobel Teaching Hospital of Morang today at the age of 72.
Dr Rai, who was living in Damak Municipality, was taken to the hospital after he experienced acute stomach pain yesterday. A worker at Rai's clinic Indra Kunwar said that Dr Rai's final rites were conducted at the burial ground in Sitapuri of Kamal Municipality today.
Rai had worked for Bhutanese monarch as a consultant surgeon.
Dr Rai had come to Nepal voluntarily after the Nepali speaking community was expelled from Bhutan in 1991. Dr Rai, along with his parents and wife, had come to Nepal. His mother Bishnu Maya died in 1997 and father Aaita Raj died ten years after his mother's death. His wife Urmila died two years ago. Dr Rai had been living alone in a rented house after the death of Urmila. He had been providing free health facility to Bhutanese refugees.
Kunwar said that Dr Rai had urged his relatives to prepare a coffin for him. Dr Rai had fallen sick just after the coffin was prepared.
Kunwar said that Dr Rai died just hours after the coffin was prepared.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 20, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
