Nepalis missing in India: Families hope against hope as authorities don’t care

Padma Belal from Doti in the Sudurpaschim province of Nepal got married to Gopal Belal when she was just 17 years old. Soon, the two gave birth to their first child – a girl. In the next six years, the couple conceived three other children.

To support his family, Gopal then decided to go to India to find work as he had known many Nepalis in India. He said he would go to India, work a few months, come back and spend time with his family. Accordingly, one day, he left his family, including his five-month-old daughter, to work in Punjab and never came back.