Woman Faces Double Tragedy as Son Disappears in Flood Weeks After Son's Plan to Fund Her Medical Treatment

Myagdi. The life of 45-year-old Narmaya Gharti of Chhap, Malika Rural Municipality-4, Myagdi, who suffered the pain of her husband going missing three days after giving birth twenty years ago, has become dark again. Narmaya, who is suffering from a serious health problem in her nose, lost her 23-year-old son Bhupendra Regmi in a flood in the Bhote Koshi river in Rasuwa on August 10. Since then, she has been in double pain, searching for her son and undergoing her own treatment. Bhupendra, a worker at a hydropower project under construction in Rasuwa, had called his mother on the evening of August 9. 'Bhupendra had told me about his plan to go to Kathmandu for treatment in October, get married before Dashain, and live in Pokhara,' Narmaya said. 'I haven't been in contact with my son since the 10th.' She hopes that a call from a new number might be her son. Narmaya, who has sought help from local representatives, the construction company, the project, and government bodies for her son's search, does not have the courage to return home from Kathmandu. 'How can I go home without knowing my son's condition?' Narmaya said. 'My husband went missing when my daughter was three days old. The Bhote Koshi flood took away my hope, adding to my pain.' Narmaya's husband, Nand Bahadur Regmi, who has been supporting their livelihood through farming, went missing twenty years ago. Nand Bahadur used to work as a sales representative at a grocery store in Darbang. When he went missing, Narmaya's daughter was three days old. As his whereabouts were not found, Nand Bahadur's funeral rites were performed according to religious customs with the advice of relatives and villagers. Due to financial constraints, Narmaya could not get her husband declared judicially dead from the court. Since Nand Bahadur's citizenship and their marriage registration were not done, Narmaya is deprived of social security allowance due to inability to complete the process. Bhupendra, who studied up to class 8, educated his sister up to class 10 by working as a laborer. Last May, when a problem appeared in his nose, he treated his mother at Gandaki Hospital for two months. Bhupendra had sent his mother home from Pokhara and gone to Rasuwa for labor. Narmaya's nose problem is still unidentified. She has to take medicine worth Rs 21,000 per month. Bhupendra's plan was to take her to Kathmandu for further treatment in October. Naveen Pun, a teacher at the local Okharbot Secondary School, said that Narmaya's life has been struck by one disaster after another. 'When doctors suspected a brain tumor and advised her to go to Kathmandu or India for further treatment, Bhupendra went to Rasuwa to arrange money,' Pun said. 'Now Narmaya faces the dual challenge of finding her missing son and getting her own treatment.' Narmaya's daughter, who was married in Baglung, cannot help her mother because her child is young. A fundraising campaign has been started for Narmaya's treatment under the leadership of teacher Pun. 'In the period of one week, about Rs 250,000 has been deposited in Narmaya's account through appeals on social media,' Pun said. 'If all those who have made commitments provide assistance, it is estimated that about Rs 800,000 will be raised.' He informed that although she wishes to get the disease identified and treated, she faces difficulties due to the lack of family members and relatives to stay by her side at the hospital.