Nepal flood victims perform symbolic last rites as hopes of finding kin fade
Eight days after devastating floods swept through Nepal, families of those still missing are beginning to perform funeral rites with symbolic effigies, while many have no homes left to grieve in.
The Bhotekoshi floods, which swept away homes, roads and bridges in Nepal on August 26, left hundreds dead and thousands missing, with several settlements along the Trishuli riverbanks destroyed.
In Paharebesi village of Rasuwa district, residents have begun preparing to perform funeral rites for missing relatives after receiving no information about their whereabouts for eight days, Onlinekhabar news portal reported on Thursday.
However, even carrying out the mourning rituals has become difficult, with many families lacking shelter and priests to conduct the ceremonies, the report added.
Uttargaya Rural Municipality Chairperson Madhav Prasad Aryal said families who believed their missing relatives were unlikely to be found had started the process of performing the final rites, it said.
"Almost nothing remains of the old settlement. It is not possible for everyone to stay together while observing the mourning rituals," the portal quoted Deputy Chairperson Chameli Gurung as saying.
More than 20 families from Paharebesi have left for Kathmandu and other places to observe the mourning period, while more were preparing to leave, the report said.
In flood-hit areas, families have begun using effigies made of kusha grass to perform the final rites of relatives who remain untraced, amid diminishing hopes of finding them alive, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, several public facilities in Kathmandu meant for families observing mourning rituals were already full, forcing some flood-hit families to wait for rooms to become available, the report added.
At the Kiriyaputri Bhawan at Rudramati Mahadev Temple in Tarakeshwar, eight groups were staying, each having lost between three and five family members in the Rasuwa floods, it said.
Nearby, all eight rooms at the Gupteshwar Mahadev Temple's Kiriyaputri Bhawan were also occupied, prompting the management to put up tents and create six additional rooms, it said.
A Kiriyaputri Bhawan is a dedicated shelter where mourners from the Hindu faith stay to perform the mandatory 13 days of post-death mourning rituals (kriya) for a departed family member.
"Now we do not have any room available until the current groups complete their mourning," The Kathmandu Post quoted Rishi Prasad Nepal, a member of the facility's management committee, as saying.
The shortage extends beyond accommodation. Families are also struggling to obtain cooking gas needed during the mourning period.
Some families have had to travel to Kathmandu even after recovering and cremating bodies because their villages no longer have homes where they can observe the mourning period.
Families said they were turning to symbolic funerals because there was little hope of recovering all the missing and because identifying bodies had become increasingly difficult, The Kathmandu Post reported.
Some victims also alleged that bodies were being rapidly buried in mass graves, leaving families with no option but to conduct symbolic rites, the report said.
The floods swept away more than 7,000 houses, while many surviving homes were rendered uninhabitable. More than 1,200 bodies of people killed in the August 26 floods have been recovered as of Thursday morning, while thousands remain missing.
The disaster, which devastated parts of northern and central Nepal, has left families facing not only the loss of loved ones but also the absence of homes and basic facilities needed to observe traditional mourning rituals.
