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🇳🇵 Nepal /Culture & Society

Nepali worker buried in Iraq without family’s knowledge

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • The body of a Nepali migrant worker, Bimal BK, who died in Iraq in July 2025, was buried without his family's knowledge or consent.
  • His family learned in May 2026 that he had been buried two months prior, despite efforts to repatriate his remains.
  • The case raises questions about the handling of the situation by his employer and the authorities involved in the repatriation process.

The family of Bimal BK, a Nepali migrant worker who died in Iraq in July 2025, is grappling with the discovery that his body was buried without their knowledge or consent. Months of efforts to repatriate his remains to Nepal were in vain, as the family learned in May 2026 that Bimal had already been buried approximately two months earlier.

Your brother’s body was buried in Baghdad two months ago. We only found out recently.

— Tika Bahadur BKInforming Bimal BK's younger brother, Sujan BK, about the burial.

Bimal, 33, from Pokhara, had worked in Baghdad for over two years. His employer, the Shmesani Restaurant, stated he died after falling ill, but his death certificate lists the cause as a heart attack. His brother, Sujan BK, who previously worked with Bimal, described long working hours and Bimal's chronic back problems. Sujan claims Bimal was advised to seek medical attention but was instead returned to his room by the company, where he died that night.

I fell ill and could no longer continue working, so I returned home. My brother also had chronic back problems. When he went for a medical check-up, the hospital recommended that he be admitted. However, promising to bring him back the following day, the company brought him back to his room instead. He died that very night.

— Sujan BKDescribing the circumstances leading to his brother's death.

The Nepali Embassy in Kuwait, which handles Iraq-related consular affairs, had authorized a local lawyer and a Nepali representative to coordinate the repatriation. However, Bimal's body was buried at Wadi al-Salam cemetery, far from Baghdad, without informing these authorized individuals. Tika Bahadur, a Nepali representative, confirmed the burial by sending a video of the cemented grave to the family.

We had been waiting for my brother’s body to arrive. The company kept assuring us it would be sent. Then, all of a sudden, we were told that he had already been buried. It felt like the ground had disappeared beneath our feet.

— Sujan BKExpressing his shock and grief upon learning of his brother's burial.

"We had been waiting for my brother’s body to arrive. The company kept assuring us it would be sent," Sujan said. "Then, all of a sudden, we were told that he had already been buried. It felt like the ground had disappeared beneath our feet." The family continues to await answers about the circumstances and timing of the burial, as Monday marked one year since Bimal's death.

Even waiting a week after hearing that someone has died is unbearable. We have waited an entire year. Our elderly mother is at home. We keep travelling to Kathmandu hoping to learn when the body will arrive so we can perform his last rites. Every day has become difficult.

— Sujan BKDescribing the family's prolonged suffering and uncertainty.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Kathmandu Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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