Gaighat, October 3

Fourteen years have passed since Barjalal Acharya, 84 and Laxmimaya,82 of Bokse at Triyuga Municipality- 10, Udayapur, started searching for their youngest son, who was disappeared during the decade-long Maoist insurgency. However, their son’s whereabouts are yet to be known.

“Our search for our youngest son still continues. However, we still have no clue whether he is still alive,” the couple said.

Then Royal Nepal Army had arrested Acharya couple’s son Lilaraj On December 15, 2003 from Kathmandu. Lilaraj was 25 years old then and was studying in the capital.

The couple recalls that a group of people projecting themselves as Maoist cadres had informed them about their son’s arrest.

Those who came to inform them about the arrest of their son never came back to see them again. “We cannot recall who they were,” the couple said.

Acharya couple visited the capital time and again seeking justice, but they never got a satisfactory response.

“No words can describe our pain. I cannot remember how many times I and my wife visited the capital,” Barjalal shared, adding, “We want the government to tell us what exactly happened to our son,” he said.

The couple had high expectations when Pushpa Kamal Dahal was the prime minister. But their hopes were dashed as no progress was made on the search for their missing son.

International Day of the Disappeared is marked on August 30 each year to commemorate disappeared people in many countries across the world. And each year this day, the old couple hope that their son might come back home one day.