Resolve legal hurdles to relief and property rights for families of the missing

Families of the missing face legal barriers to relief and property rights. The government must act now.

As of Wednesday, the confirmed death toll from the devastating Bhotekoshi flood stood at 1,399, while 5,179 people remained missing—more than three times the number confirmed dead. With little hope of finding their loved ones alive, several families of the missing have already performed funeral rites, using effigies made of kush , a sacred grass. Many others are waiting for government relief before they can perform the final rites for loved ones they believe they have lost forever.