माँ कसम रामभरोस दाइ शिर्षकमा ४ बैशाख २०७३ मा कान्तिपुरको कोसेलीमा फिचर रिपोर्टिङ छापिएको थियो । यो समाचार महोत्तरीको कलुवावगियाका तिनै रामभरोस खत्वेलाई करिब पांच बर्षपछि पुनः पछ्याएर तयार पारिएको हो :

काठमाडौँ — २०७२ चैत अन्तिम साताको कुरा हो । महोत्तरी कलुवाबगियाका रामभरोस खत्वे रात्रिबस चढेर झिसमिसेमै काठमाडौं उत्रिएका थिए । गौशालाको धर्मशालाअघि भेट्दा उनको अनुहारमा निराशाको बाक्लो रङ पोतिएको थियो ।

एक लाख १० हजार रुपैयाँ तिरेर ‘लेबर’ काममा कतार पुगेका उनी कम्पनीले गरेको मेडिकल जाँचमा फेल भएपछि फर्किएका थिए । म्यानपावर कम्पनीको स्थानीय एजेन्टले जनकपुरमा गराइदिएको स्वास्थ्य परीक्षणमा कसरी पास भए, कसरी कतारमा गरिएको दोस्रो स्वास्थ्य परीक्षणमा फेल भए, उनले बुझ्न सकेनन् ।

रामभरोसले स्थानीय साहूबाट ३६ प्रतिशत ब्याजदरमा लिएको ऋणको ब्याजमिटर फनफनी घुम्न थालेपछि उनी उजुरबाजुर गर्न काठमाडौं आइपुगेका थिए । उनले पाँच दिन काठमाडौंमा दौडधुप गरे । महानगरीय प्रहरी अपराध महाशाखाले अनुसन्धान सुरु गरेपछि उनलाई कतार पठाउने बत्तीसपुतलीस्थित सान म्यानपावर कम्पनी बल्लतल्ल एक लाख फिर्ता गर्न तयार भयो ।

नेपाल सरकारले २०७२ असार २१ गतेदेखि लागू हुने गरी ‘फ्रि भिसा, फ्रि टिकट’ को नीति गत निर्णय गरेको थियो । खाडीका ६ देश र मलेसियामा रोजगारीमा जाने कामदारसँग व्यवसायीले प्रवेशाज्ञा र हवाई टिकटबापत रकम लिन नपाउने र रोजगारदाता कम्पनीले सेवा तथा प्रवर्द्धन खर्च नबेहोर्ने भनेर स्पष्ट तोकिए व्यवसायीले बढीमा १० हजार रुपैयाँसम्म लिन पाइने निर्णय गरेको थियो । सरकारी निर्णय उल्लंघन गरेको समाचार सार्वजनिक भएपछि पनि म्यानपावर व्यवसायीलाई निगरानी गर्न बसेको सरकारी संयन्त्र श्रम विभागले कुनै कदम चालेन । फसेको रकमको १० हजार कम भए पनि जेनतेन पाएपछि त्यतिबेलाका महाशाखा प्रमुख एसएसपी सर्वेन्द्र खनालले रामभरोसलाई सोधेका थिए, ‘अब फेरि विदेश नै जाने कि के गर्ने ?’

उनले तनक्क तन्किएर आफ्ना दुवै कान समातेर भनेका थिए, ‘माँ कसम सर अब जाँदैन ।’

रकम बुझेर गाउँ फर्किएका रामभरोसले स्थानीय साहूलाई १० हजार बाँकी राखेर अरू रकम तिरे । सदरमुकाम जलेश्वरमा वर्षौंदेखिको रिक्सा चलाउने काम उनले फेरि सुरु गरे । दुई छोरी र दुई छोराका बाबु रा

मभरोसको १० धुर जग्गामा बनेको फुसको घरबाहेक सम्पत्ति थिएन ।

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कतारमा कार्यरत सप्तरी, बोदेरबरसाइनका बालकिसुन मण्डलको शव मृत्यु भएको १८ दिनपछि २०७३ मंसिर ७ मा काठमाडौं आइपुग्यो । बालकिसुनका वृद्ध बाबु र श्रीमती सरो काखे छोरी च्यापेर शव लिन त्रिभुवन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानस्थलमा आएका थिए । म उनीहरूको शववाहनलाई पछ्याउँदै बोदेरबरसाइन पुगेको थिएँ । त्यही क्रममा रामभरोसलाई भेट्न महोत्तरीको जलेश्वर गएँ । दिनमा एक सय १० रुपैयाँ भाडा तिर्ने गरी रामभरोस रिक्सा पेलिरहेका थिए । त्यहाँ एकाध बिजुली रिक्सा र अटो चल्न थालिसकेका थिए । त्यतैतिर संकेत गरेझैं गरेर उनले भनेका थिए, ‘कमाइ नै हुँदैन, कसरी जहान केटाकेटी पाल्ने ?’

रामभरोस दुःखमा कसरी फसे र कसरी उम्किए भनेर उनीबारे समाचार लेखेको करिब दुई वर्षसम्म उनीसँग नियमित संवाद हुन्थ्यो । उनले सुखदुःख साट्थे । टोलका कुरा सुनाउँथे । एक दिन अचानक रामभरोस सम्पर्कविहीन भए । उनको फोन लागेन । मलाई मधेस झर्ने समय मिलेन । गत फागुन २१ मा जनकपुर साहित्य महोत्सवको छेको पारेर जनकपुर पुगेका बेला म सोध्दै खोज्दै कलुवाबगियास्थित उनको घरमै पुगें ।

कलुवाबगियाको सानो बजार छिचोलेर धुलौटो बाटो हुँदै दक्षिण लागेपछि आउने पोखरीलाई दायाँ फन्को मारेर अघि बढ्ने सानो बाटो छेउमा बाँसले बारेको उनको घर थियो । रामभरोस घरमा थिएनन् । जेठा छोरा धीरज भने घरमै भेटिए । ६ कक्षामा पढ्ने उनी स्कुल जान छाडेको तीन महिना भएछ । उनले आफ्नै लवजमा सुनाए, ‘बुबा साउदी गएछ ।’ रामभरोस पत्नी भक्तजनले चढाएको बोकाको मासुको प्रसाद खान नजिकैको मन्दिर गएकी थिइन् । धीरजले इमोमा कल गरेर बाबु रामभरोससँग सम्पर्क गराइदिए ।

मैले माटोले लिपेको भित्तामा अडेस लागेर उनीसँग कुरा गरे । उनले एकै सासमा सुनाए, ‘एक लाख दस हजार अर्जेन्टलाई बुझाएर साउदी आएको । ६ महिनादेखि तलब पाएको छैन । बहुत तकलिफ छ ।’

मैले सोधें, ‘तपाईंले त काठमाडौंमा अब कहिल्यै विदेश जान्नँ भन्नुभएथ्यो । किन जानुभयो त ?’

^{बाबु रामभराे}^स^{सँग इमाेमा कुराकानी गर्दै जेठो छाेरा}

उनले भने, ‘कान्छी छोरी पनि १८/१९ वर्षको भइसकी । त्यसको बिहेमा मोटरसाइकल दाइजो दिनुपर्छ । त्यही दहेजको पैसा कमाउन आएको ।’

रामभरोससँग कुरा गर्दै गर्दा उनका छिमेकी रामफल मण्डलसँग भेट भयो । मैले आफूबारे बताएपछि उनले रामभरोसको कथा लेख्ने पत्रकारका रूपमा मलाई चिने र भने, ‘रामभरोसको कथा मैले साउदीमा बसेर मोबाइलमा पढेथ्यो ।’

साउदीमा तीन वर्ष काम गरेर फर्केपछि केही समय घर बसेर फेरि मजदुरी गर्न श्रीलंका पुगेका रामफल केही समयअघि मात्रै श्रीलंकाको कोलम्बोबाट फर्केका रहेछन् । उनले त्यहाँ काम गरेको प्रमाण देखाउन स्क्रिन फुटेको पुरानो मोबाइलमा केही फोटो देखाए । कोलम्बोका बहुतले व्यापारिक भवनहरूका अघिल्तिर उभिएको उनको फोटो थियो । उनले पर्सबाट एक डलरको नोट देखाएर सोधे, ‘एउटा कुरा सोधौं ?’

मैले सहमतिको भाव देखाएपछि उनले भने, ‘यो डलर भन्छ । किन कागजको नोटमा छापेछ सर ?’

रामफलले करिब ४५ टोलको खत्वे टोलमा परिवारका कोही न कोही सदस्य विदेश नगएको घर एकाध मात्रै रहेको सुनाए । रामभरोससँगै केही वर्ष रिक्सा हाँकेका रामफलले साथी कर्जामा डुबेको सुनाए । उनले पनि रामभरोसले इमो संवादमा भनेझैं सुनाए, ‘कम्तीमा पनि साढे तीन लाख कर्जामा डुबेछ रामभरोस ।’ रामभरोसले इमो कुराकानीमा आफूले कर्जा लिएका दस जनाको नाम र कर्जा लिएको सबै रकम पाठ घोकेको विद्यार्थीले झैं खरखरी सुनाए । ती सबैसँग लिएको साँवा रकम मात्रै करिब तीन लाख हाराहारी थियो । जसको ब्याज पनि जोड्दा रामफलले भनेझैं साढे तीन लाख कट्ने देखिन्थ्यो ।

रामभराेसका छिमेकी रामफल मण्डल श्रीलंकामा मजदुरी गरेर कमाएकाे डलर देखाउँदै

रामफललाई मैले ‘साउदीमा ३ वर्ष र श्रीलंकामा २ वर्ष काम गरेर कमाएको पैसाले के गर्नुभयो ?’ भनेर सोधे । उनले उता कमाएको पैसा विदेश जाँदा लागेको कर्जा तिरेको र बाँकी रकम छोरीको बिहेमा दहेजमा खर्च गरेको सुनाए । उनले भने, ‘ठूली छोरीको बिहे गर्दा लागेको करिब ५० हजार कर्जा तिर्न अझै सदाएका छैन ।’

उनले गाउँका सबैजसो तन्नेरी विदेश गएको तर पैसा बचाउन पटक्कै नसकेको सुनाए । किन त ? उनले भने, ‘कर्जाको ब्याज सदाउँदा–सदाउँदै पैसा गइहाल्छ । कोहीले छोरीको बिहेमा धेरै दाइजो दिन्छ । कोहीले रमाइलो गरेर पैसा सक्छ । अनि फेरि कर्जामा डुबिहाल्छ ।’

काठमाडौं फर्केपछि रामभरोससँग इमोबाट नियमित कुराकानी भयो । त्यहींबाट मैले थाहा पाएँ, कतार जाँदा फसेको पैसा उठेपछि रामभरोसले केही महिना जलेश्वरमै रिक्सा चलाएछन् । केही महिना सडक निर्माणमा मजदुरीको काम गरेछन् । एक वर्ष जति भने नजिकैको धान, चामल र चिउरा भुट्ने मिलमा उनले मासिक १५ हजार तलबमा काम गरेछन् ।

साउदी जानुअघि उनले सीमावर्ती भारतीय गाउँ सुरसन्डका केटासँग जेठी छोरीको बिहे गरिदिएछन् । एक लाख १० हजार खर्चेर मोटरसाइकल, ९० हजारको कुर्सी पलङ र ५० हजार भारु नगदै दाइजो दिएछन । बिहेमा सबै गरेर रामभरोसले ७ लाख जति खर्चेछन् ।

उनले सुनाए, ‘दाइजो नदिई त कसैले छोरी नै लिँदैन त के गर्नु ?’

‘१५ हजार तलबको काम छाडेर किन साउदी जानुभएको ?’ मैले सोधें ।

उनले गाउँको कमाइले नुनतेल, दुई छोराको पढाई खर्च, जेठी छोरीको बिहेमा लागेको कर्जाको ब्याज तिर्न पनि गाह्रो भएको सुनाए । उनले भने, ‘जति गरे पनि कर्जा सदाउन नसकिने ! स्कुल नै नटेकेकी कान्छी छोरीको पनि बिहे गर्ने बेला भइसक्यो । अनि त कुनै उपाय भएन ।’

कर्जाको पीरले छटपटिएका बेला उनले छिमेकी गाउँ बखरीका एजेन्टको काम गर्ने भजनी ठाकुरलाई भेटेछन् । भजनीलाई एक लाख १० हजार नगदै हातमा बुझाएर उनी साउदी उडेका रहेछन् ।

कुराकानी सकिएपछि उनले आफू साउदी जाँदाका कागजात पठाइदिए । कागजातअनुसार उनी २०७५ जेठ १२ गते साउदी अरब उडेका रहेछन् । अल मसरियु नामक साउदी कम्पनीको जेद्दास्थित सडक निर्माणको परियोजनामा रामभरोस काम गर्न पुगे । उनलाई मासिक ८ सय साउदी रियाल (करिब २५ हजार रुपैयाँ) र २ सय रियाल खाना खर्च दिने काममा लगाइएको रहेछ । सरकारले फ्रि भिसा फ्रि टिकट भने पनि उनी किन एक लाख दस हजार तिर्न तयार भए ? उनले भने, ‘हामी गाउँको आदमीलाई के थाहा ? अर्जेन्टले त्यति पैसा नतिरी जान मिल्दैन भनेपछि के गर्नु त ?’ उनले म्यानपावरका स्थानीय एजेन्टलाई अर्जेन्ट भनेका थिए ।

रामभरोसका अनुसार कम्पनीले उनलाई निर्माण क्षेत्रमा ट्वाइलेटको पानी ढलमा निकास गर्नका लागि खाल्डो खन्ने, पाइप फिट गर्ने र पिच गर्ने काम लगाएको छ । कामको सुरुवाती दिनमा कम्पनीले तलब दिए पनि पछिल्ला दिनमा उनले नियमित तलब पाउन छाडेको बताए । कम्पनीले दिएकै कोठामा अन्य चार कामदार साथीसँग बसेका रामभरोसले केही सातायता खानेकुराको अभावमा नुन र भात मात्रै खाइरहेको सुनाए । ‘बहुत तकलिफ छ सर !’ उनले भने ।

ज्वरो र खोकी आएपछि बुधबार र बिहीबार उनी दुई दिन काममा गएनन् । उनले भने, ‘कुनै जुगाड लगाइदिनु मलाई । नेपाल फर्किनुपर्‍यो ।’

रामभरोससँगै बस्ने केही साथी भने बेला–बेला स्थानीय साउदीको घरमा गएर लुकीछिपी काम गरेर केही पैसा जम्मा गर्दा रहेछन् । रामभरोससँगै काम गर्ने एकले कान्तिपुरसँग भने, ‘लुकीछिपी काम गरेको पैसाले नुन–चामल किनेर खाइरहेका छौं ।’

रामभरोसका अनुसार मदिना छेउको अलहमद भन्ने ठाउँमा काम सुरु गरेपछि कम्पनीले पहिलो तलब नै तीन महिना बितेपछि दियो । त्यसपछि पनि उनीहरूले समयमै तलब पाएनन् । रामभरोसले भने, ‘कोरोनाकालभरि पनि काम लगाए । तर तलब दिएनन् ।’

सिरहाको लहान घर भएका रामभरोसका सहकर्मी स्वराज ठाकुर दनुवारको कथा पनि उनकै जस्तो रहेछ । नेपालमा स्वास्थ्य परीक्षण पास भइवरी एक लाख ५ हजार तिरेर मलेसिया पुगे पनि दोस्रो स्वास्थ्य परीक्षणमा फेल भएपछि तीन महिनामै उनी नेपाल फर्किएका रहेछन् । नेपाल फर्किएको तीन महिनापछि उनी गोलबजारकै एक एजेन्ट विनोद राईलाई ५५ हजार र काठमाडौंको लिंक इन्टरनेसनल प्लेसमेन्ट सर्भिस नामक म्यानपावरलाई ४५ हजार बुझाएर साउदी उडेका रहेछन् ।

कम्पनीले नियमितजसो काममा लगाए पनि तलब दिन आनाकानी गरिरहेको उनले सुनाए । ‘तलब कहिले आउँछ भनेर सोध्यो भने भोलि भन्छ । तर म्यानेजरले भनेको भोलि कहिल्यै आउन्न,’ २२ वर्षीय उनले भने । उनका अनुसार कम्पनीको उक्त साइटमा करिब ३५ नेपाली, केही पाकिस्तानी र भारतीय कामदार कार्यरत छन् । उनले भने, ‘अरू देशका कामदारले पनि तलब पाइरहेका छैनन् ।’

रामभरोसले शुक्रबारको कुराकानीमा आफूहरू चामल र नुनको भरमा कतिन्जेल बाँच्ने भन्ने टुंगो नभएको बताए । ‘दिनको एक छाक भातको भरमा बाँचिरहेका छौं,’

उनले भने, ‘दुई छाक नै खान त कहाँ पुग्छ ?’ उनले दिनभर भोलि के खाने होला भन्ने चिन्तामा आफू बाँचिरहेको बताए ।

काम गरेर पनि तलब नपाउँदा र आफू खाइनखाई बसेको थाहा पाएर घरमा श्रीमती पनि रोइरहेको सुनाउँदै उनले घरमा फोन गरेर सम्झाइदिन आग्रह गरे । ४६ वर्षीय उनले उदासी मिसिएको स्वरमा भने, ‘अहिले एक पटकलाई मेरो समस्या हल गरिदिनुस् । म अब कहिल्यै विदेश आउँदिनँ । अब त म बूढो पनि भइसकें । छोरीको सादी गर्ने चिन्ता मात्रै नभएको भए कस्सम आउँन्थेन ।’

प्रकाशित : चैत्र ७, २०७७ ०७:०९

https://ekantipur.com/news/2021/03/20/161620347549722477.html

काठमाडौं — ‘हम गौशाला उतरलिए ? अहाँ कत छी ?’ बिहानको साढे पाँच बजे मोबाइलमा यसरी बोल्ने रामभरोस थिए । म जेनतेन मात्रै मैथली बुझ्छु । रामभरोषलाई मैले कतै देखें, भेटें, चिनेको थिइनँ । तपाईंले गलत नम्बरमा फोन गर्नुभयो भन्दै मैले फोन काटिदिएँ ।

‘हम गौशाला उतरलिए ? अहाँ कत छी ?’ बिहानको साढे पाँच बजे मोबाइलमा यसरी बोल्ने रामभरोस थिए । म जेनतेन मात्रै मैथली बुझ्छु । रामभरोषलाई मैले कतै देखें, भेटें, चिनेको थिइनँ ।

तपाईंले गलत नम्बरमा फोन गर्नुभयो भन्दै मैले फोन काटिदिएँ । तर उनले फेरि फोन गरे । मैले फोन उठाएँ र उनका बारे सोधें ।

उनले मलाई चिनेका थिएनन् । तर भने, ‘जलेश्वरको एलडीओले तपाईंको नम्बर दिएको हो ।’ कुनै एलडीओसँग मेरो प्रत्यक्ष चिनजान र सम्र्पक थिएन । जसले मेरो नम्बर दिएर कसैलाई काठमाडौं पठाएका हुन् ।

यदि त्यसरी पठाएका भए मलाई खबर गर्दा हुन् ? यस्तो सोचेर मैले फेरि फोन काटें र सुत्ने प्रयास गरें । एकैछिनमा मोबाइलमा म्यासेज आयो । बिहानको निद्रा बिग्रिएकोमा झर्को मान्दै मैले म्यासेज हेरें । लेखिएको थियो, ‘एकजना दु:खी मान्छे पठाएको छु । तिम्ले सकेको सहयोग गर्नु है।’

पत्रकार एकल सिलवालले पहिलो पटक गाउंमा भेटदा रोईरहेको अवस्थामा भेटिएका रामभरोस

यो म्यासेज पाएपछि मैले अघि फोन आएको नम्बरमा फोन गरें र भनें, ‘कुर्दै गर्नुस् म आइहालें ।’ म गौशाला पुग्दा फोन गर्ने मान्छे हत्केलामा चिउँडो अड्याएर सडक किनारमा टुक्रुक्क बसेका थिए ।

जलेश्वरबाट नाइटबसमा आएका हुनाले होला तिनको अनुहार थकित र क्लान्त देखिन्थ्यो । मोटरसाइकलमा राखेर नजिकैको चिया पसल पुर्‍याएँ । हातमा तातो चिया थमाएर सोधें, ‘किन काठमाडौं आउनुभएको ? के समस्या पर्‍यो ?’ उनी रहेछन्– महोत्तरी कलुवगियाका रामभरोस खत्वे, ३४ । नाममा उनको भरोस छ तर दुनियाँमा कसैबाट भरोसा नपाएका ।

१५ वर्षदेखि सदरमुकाम जलेश्वरमा रिक्सा चलाउँदै आएका खत्वेको दु:खको कथा चार महिनाअघिबाट सुरु भएको रहेछ । सयकडा तीन रुपैयाँको ब्याजमा लिएको एक लाख १० हजार ऋण खोजेर रतौलीका एजेन्ट (रामभरोसकै शब्दमा अर्जेन्ट) भरत शाहको हातमा बुझाएपछि उनको वैदेशिक रोजगारीको यात्रा सुरु भएको रहेछ ।

जनकपुरकै मेडिकलमा स्वास्थ्य जाँच गराएर एजेन्टले खत्वेलाई काठमाडौं बत्तिसपुतलीको सान नेपाल मेनपावर कन्सलटेन्सीमा पठाइदिएछ । मेनपावरले आवश्यक कागजात र भिसा लगाइदिएपछि खत्वे कतार पुगे । जुन बेला उनी एक लाख १० हजार तिरेर कतार उडे, त्यो बेला वैदेशिक रोजगारीमा जानेसँग १० हजारभन्दा बढी असुल्न नपाइने भनेर श्रम तथा रोजगार मन्त्रालयले निर्णय गरेको महिनौं भइसकेको थियो ।

काठमाडौंमा गौशालास्थित धर्मशालाको छेउमा भेटिएका रामभरोस

यसमा उनको खासै गुनासो थिएन । तर, जब मिस्त्री काम गर्ने भनेर गएका उनलाई चर्को गर्मीमा सिमेन्ट र बालुवा बोक्ने काममा लगाइयो अनि उनलाई आफू ठगिएजस्तो लाग्यो । ११ सय दिराम भनिएको तलब ९ सय मात्रै रहेछ । काम थालेको दुई महिनापछि एक दिन कम्पनीको सुपरभाइजर आएर भन्यो, ‘भोलिबाट काममा नआउनू, तिम्रो मेडिकल फेल भयो ।’

जनकपुरमा जाँच्दा पास भएको मेडिकल यहाँको डाक्टरले कसरी फेल गरायो ? रामभरोसले रातभर सोचे ? दिनभर सोचे । फेरि रातभर सोचे ? कुनै उत्तर फेला परेन । फेल भएपछि घर फर्किनुपर्ने भयो । सयकडा तीन ब्याजमा लिएको ऋण कसरी तिर्ने ? अर्को छटपटी सुरु भयो । स–साना छोराछोरीको अनुहार आँखामा आउन थाले । मेडिकल फेल भएका अरू तीन कामदारको बेचैनी पनि उस्तै थियो । एकजना पन्जाबीले आत्महत्या नै गर्‍यो ।

‘झुन्डिएर मर्छु भन्ने सोचेको थिएँ, घरबाट बुढियाले फोनमा रुँदै कुरा गरेपछि त्यसको मायाले मर्न सकिनँ,’ रामभरोसले सुनाए । केही दिनपछि हातमा सय दिराम थमाएर कम्पनीले उनलाई नेपाल फर्काइदियो । काठमाडौं ओर्लेर राभरोस सरासर घर पुगे । सबैसँग आफ्नो दु:ख बेसाए ।

ऋण र घुमिरहेको ब्याजको मिटरले उनको बेचैनीलाई झनै अग्लो बनाइदियो । रिपोर्टिङका लागि घुम्दै रामको गाउँ पुगेका पत्रकार एकल सिलवालले उनको रुँदारुँदै थाकेको अनुहार देखे । परिवारका सदस्यको छटपटी देखे र उनलाई काठमाडौं पठाइदिए । मलाई एसएमएस पनि उनैले गरेका थिए । कतारबाट फर्केको पाँचौं दिनमा रामरोस मेरा अघिल्तिर थिए ।

पासपोर्ट र कतार जाँदाआउँदाको हवाई टिकट प्रमाणस्वरूप देखाए । उनको कथा सुनेपछि मैले सोधें, ‘कतारको गर्मी कस्तो रै’छ दाइ ?’ उनले सुनाए, ‘अरे दाइ, घाम छ नि, त्यो नेपालको जस्तो माथि आकाशमा नबस्ने, टाउकोमै छुन आइहाल्ने ।’

तर, रामभरोस घामभन्दा पनि ऋणको तापले डढेका थिए। उनी राम्ररी नेपाली बोल्न सक्थेनन् । न उनी लेख्न र पढ्न सक्थे । उमेरले जेठा भए पनि उनी प्रत्येक शब्दमा मलाई दाइ भन्थे । काठमाडौंका अड्डा अदालतबारे पनि उनलाई खासै ज्ञान थिएन । अधिवक्ता कृष्ण न्यौपानेसँग मेरो पुरानो चिनजान थियो ।

उनी वैदेशिक रोजगारीका पीडितहरूको निम्ति नि:शुल्क कानुनी लडाइँ लड्ने गैरसरकारी संस्था पिपुल्स फोरममा काम गर्थे । रामभरोसलाई बोकेर बुद्धनगरस्थित कार्यालय पुगे । सबै व्यथा सुनाएर भनें, ‘अब कसरी न्याय पाइएला ?’

मेडिकल फेल भनेर फिर्ता पठाए पनि रामभरोससँग मेडिकल फेलको कुनै आधिकारिक कागजपत्र थिएन । भएको भए पनि पूरै प्रक्रिया पूरा गरेर न्याय पाउन उस्तै परे महिना दिन काठमाडौं बस्नुपर्ने हुन सक्थ्यो ।

त्यतिका लामो प्रक्रियापछि रामभरोसकै पक्षमा निर्णय भयो भने पनि मेनपावर व्यवसायीले तिर्ने रकम भने जाँदाआउँदा लागेको टिकट शुल्क मात्रै हुन्थ्यो । सबै प्रक्रिया सुनाएर न्यौपाने भने, ‘मेडिकल फेलका धेरैले कि त न्याय पाउँदैनन्, पाए पनि महिनौंपछि पाउँछन् । जतिबेला दौडधुपमा पीडितको हजारौं रुपैयाँ खर्च भइसक्छ ।’

उनीसँग पैसा बुझाएको कुनै प्रमाण थिएन । वैदेशिक रोजगार विभागमा उनले ठगीको ऊजुरी गरे पनि न्याय पाउन त्यति सजिलो थिएन । बलिया मेनपावर व्यवसायीका अघि पीडितहरू सधैं जुम्सा र निरीह छन् ।

म कुनै निष्कर्षमा पुग्न सकिनँ । विदेशबाट उद्धार गरिएका अंगभंग भएका वा बेखर्ची भएका कामदारलाई राख्ने सेल्टर चलाएर बसेको प्रवासी नेपाली समन्वय समितिका सोम लामिछानेलाई फोन गरें ।

उनले सेल्टरमा रामभरोसलाई खानेबस्ने सुविधा दिलाइदिए । ठेगाना लेखिदिएको भरमा रामभरोस बाटो पहिल्याउन सक्दैनन् । झम्कै साँझमा उनलाई सेल्टर पुर्‍याएर फर्किएँ ।

दोस्रो दिन

बिहानै सेल्टर पुगें र रामभरोसलाई मोटरसाइकलमा राखेर महानगरीय प्रहरी अपराध महाशाखा टेकु हान्निएँ । खत्वेको सबै कहानी सुनेपछि महाशाखा प्रमुख सर्वेन्द्र खनालले सुझाए– म लेखन्दास बोलाइदिन्छु तुरुन्तै ठगीको मुद्दा दर्ता गर्नुस् ।

मैले भनें, ‘रामभरोस दाइलाई नेपाली भाषा आउँदैन । लेखन्दास मैथिली भाषा बुझ्दैनन् ।’ खनालले तुरुन्तै सप्तरी घर भएका प्रहरी जवानलाई बोलाएर आदेश दिए, ‘लेखनदास बोलाउनू, पीडितको बयान तिमीले अनुवाद गरिदिनू ।’

रामभरोस खत्वेलाई त्यहीं छाडेर म रिपोर्टिङमा हिँडें । साँझ थाहा पाएँ, खनालले मेनपावर व्यवसायीलाई बोलाइवरी पाँच दिनभित्रमा महोत्तरीबाट एजेन्ट झिकाउने सहमति गराएछन् ।

मेनपावरका सञ्चालकलाई खत्वेलाई खानेबस्ने व्यवस्था मिलाउन अह्राएछन् । साँझमा खत्वेले फोन गरे र भने, ‘म गौशालाको लजमा आएँ । मेनपावरको मान्छेले खानबस्न पाँच सय दियो ।’

तेस्रो दिन

बिहान रामभरोससँग भेट भएको थियो । राति आठ बजेतिर उनको मिसकल आयो ।

मैले तुरुन्तै फोन गरेर सोधें, दाइ के भयो ? उनले जे उत्तर दिए त्यो बुझिने खालको थिएन । खाना खान हिँडेका बेला बाटो बिराएको वा कतै हराएको, आफू बस्ने लजको नाम थाहा नभएको यस्तै कुरा थियो । उनको अधुरो र अपुरो कुराले मलाई आपत् पार्‍यो । खोज्न जाउँ उनी ठ्याक्कै कहाँ छन् थाहा छैन । नजाऊ उनी आपत्मा छन् जस्तो लागिरहेछ ।

रातिको नौ बजेसम्म मैले बारम्बार फोन गरें तर उनले उठाएनन् ।

चौथो दिन

बिहान उठ्नेबित्तिकै गौशाला पुगें । उनका कुरा सुनेर म खङरङ भएँ ।

खाना खान लागेको बेला एकजना हेलमेट लगाएको अपरिचितले पाखुरमा समातेर खत्वेलाई मोटरसाइकलमा राखेछ र सिनामंगलको अँध्यारो गल्लीतिर कुदाएछ । मैले बारम्बार फोन गर्दा पनि त्यही अज्ञात मान्छेले फोन नउठाउन धम्की दिएको रहेछ । उनी रुने कराउने गरेपछि अँध्यारो गल्लीमा छोडेर हिँडेछ ।

‘दाइ मलाई त्यसले मार्छ भन्ने लागेको थियो, डरले रातभरि सुतिनँ,’ उनले भने । कसले किन र कुन उद्देश्यले खत्वेलाई अँध्यारो गल्लीतिर डोर्‍यायो ? मैले केही भेउ पाइनँ । तुरुन्तै खत्वे बसेको लजमा पुगेर पैसा तिरीवरी उनलाई अनामनगरको सेल्टरमा बस्ने व्यवस्था मिलाएँ । त्यसै दिन दिउँसो एजेन्टले खत्वेलाई फोन गरेर तुरुन्तै मेनपावर जान आदेश दियो । रिपोर्टिङको काम चटक्क छाडेर म खत्वेसँग बत्तिसपुतलीस्थित मेनपवारको अफिस पुगें ।

त्यहाँका कर्मचारीले सोधे, तपाईं उहाँको को ? मैले विनम्र भावमा भने, ‘म उहाँको सहयोगी ।’ मेनपावरका कर्मचारीले भने, ‘कुरा जसरी नि मिलाउनुपर्छ । अब कति पैसामा मिलाउने भन्नुस् ?’ खत्वेलाई सोधिएको उत्तर मैले नै दिएँ, ‘मिलाउने भन्ने कुरै हँुदैन । जति दलालले लिएको उति नै फिर्ता गर्नुपर्छ ।’ मेरो चर्को स्वर सुनेर मेनपावरका सञ्चालक मलाई भेट्न आए । उपल्लो तल्लामा रहेको आफ्नो कोठामा पुर्‍याए र भने, ‘मिलाउनुस् न । तपाईंलाई पनि हेरूला ।’

मैले एक रुपैयाँ पनि कम नहुने, बरु ढिलो गरे उल्टो क्षतिपूर्ति पनि तिर्नुपर्ला भनें । कुरा नमिलेपछि खत्वेलाई सेल्टर पुर्‍याएर घर फर्कें । कति दिनसम्म उनलाई काठमाडौंमा राख्नुपर्ने हो ? कहिलेसम्म उनले न्याय पाउने हुन् ? मेनपावरले के–के अड्को थाप्ने हो ? महोत्तरीबाट एजेन्ट कहिले काठमाडौं आउने हो ? मसँग कुनै ठोस उत्तर थिएन ।

न्यायको खोजीमा काठमाडौंमा भौतारिरहेका बेला रामभरोस

पाँचौं दिन

मध्य दिनमा खत्वेले फोन गरेर भने, ‘दाइ मेनपावरले तुरुन्त आउनु भनेको छ ।’ तत्काल उनलाई लिएर मेनपावर पुगें । यसपाला भने सोझै सञ्चालकसँग कुरा भयो ।

उनले फेरि मिलाउने कुरा गरे । मेनपावर व्यवसायका सारा दु:ख कहे र अन्तमा भने, ‘अलिकति त मिलाउनुस् न । हामी पनि मर्कामा छौं ?’ उनी पूरा पैसा दिन तयार थिएनन् । रामभरोसलाई धेरै दिन काठमाडौंमा अड्काउनुको पनि अरू कुनै उद्देश्य थिएन । मुद्दा लड्दा झन् बढी समय लाग्थ्यो ।

मैले सुटुक्क सल्लाह गरें र सञ्चालकसँग भनें, ‘त्यसो भए एक लाख दिनुस् ।’ सञ्चालकले सहमतिमा मुन्टो हल्लाए । महानगरीय प्रहरी अपराध महाशाखा पुगेर सहमतिको कागतपत्र तयार पारियो । मेनपावरका कर्मचारीले एक लाखको बिटो खत्वेको हातमा थमाइदिए ।

उनको अनुहार धपक्क बल्यो । महिनौंसम्म नहाँसेको ओठमा मुस्कानको झिल्का देखियो । खाँदाबस्दा लागेको खर्च भनेर मेनपावरका कर्मचारीसँग अरू २५ सय मागियो । एसएसपी सर्वेन्द्रले मुस्काइरहेका रामभरोसलाई सोधे, ‘अब फेरि विदेश नै जाने कि के गर्ने ?’ उनले तनक्क तन्किएर आफ्ना दुवै कान समाते र भने, ‘माँ कसम सर । अब जाँदैन ।’

सिनामंगलबाट जलेश्वरका लागि छुट्ने रात्रिबस ६ बजेसम्म पाइन्थ्यो । खत्वेलाई लिएर उतै हान्निएँ ।

बसमा उनले हराउलान् भनेर एक लाख रुपैयाँ मैले नै राखें । माहुरीको गोलोझै बसमा मान्छे झुम्मेका थिए । नन्दनी डिलक्सको अन्तिम सि
टमा बसेपछि उनले झ्याल खोलेर बाईबाई गरे । मैले घर पुगेर बिर्सिने त होइन नि भनेर सोधें । उनले चर्को स्वरमा भने, ‘माँ कसम बिर्सिन्नँ, हरेक दिन मिस कल गर्छु दाइ ।’

छैटौं दिन

रामभरोस खत्वे कलुवावगियास्थित घर पुगे । मैले मनी ट्रान्सफरबाट पैसा पठाइदिए । तर लेख्न पढ्न नजान्ने भएकाले पैसा बुझ्नका लागि आवश्यक पर्ने कोड नम्बर उनले टिप्न सक्ने कुरै भएन । महोत्तरीका डीएसपी विनोद सिलवाललाई फोन गरेर मैले समस्या राखें । उनले एक प्रहरी जवानलाई खत्वेसँगै पठाइदिए । पैसा निकालेर प्रहरी जवानले खत्वेलाई मोटरसाइकलमा घर पुर्‍याइदिए । साँझ खत्वेले फोने गरे । उनको आवाजमा खुसी छचल्किएको थियो ।

भने, ‘दाइ भोलि सखारै ऋण तिरिदिन्छु । अनि रिक्सा भाडामा लिएर चलाउन थालिहाल्छु । आज बहुतै मीठो सुत्छु दाइ ।’ लामो कुरापछि फोन राख्ने बेलामा उनले भने, ‘माँ कसम दाइ, अहाँ के सब दिन मिस कल मारल ।’

Originally published in Kantipur daily . link : https://ekantipur.com/Blog/2016/04/17/20160417091004.html

Janak Raj Sapkota

“For seven days we walked through dense forest without much food or water. We were on the verge of death,” recounts Moti Gurung of Ilam, who was among a group of Nepalis being taken by human traffickers to Greece via Turkey. Gurung says he lost contact with fellow-Nepali Nabin Tiwari during the trek, and he has been missing for seven months.

“Our Pakistani agent allowed us one call and we spoke to Aashish Ghimire about Nabin’s condition but they didn’t do anything,” says Gurung, who last saw Tiwari while following a railway track as the trafficker put them on a train.

A Kathmandu-based middleman named Aashish Ghimire had lured Gurung, Tiwari and one other Nepali with a promise to smuggle them into Europe via Turkey and Greece where they could make a better living. Each were charged up to Rs 500,000 and then handed to a Pakistani national named Mohammad.

Nepalis going to Turkey via India on tourist visas to find their way to Europe are being stranded and duped by human traffickers along the way. In some cases, individuals who pay anywhere from Rs1.1 to 1.5 million to enter Greece via Turkey have risked their lives. Gurung and his team were detained for 25 days for illegal entry before being deported back to Nepal.

There have been 37 complaints against human traffickers, smuggling Nepalis to Greece at the Central Bureau of Investigation, who have been swindled of Rs25 million.

“I spent 900,000 but didn’t make a penny,” says Tikaram Bhattari who left for Turkey via India with Tiwari but was unable to enter Greece.

According to DSP Manohar Bhatta, a cross-border human trafficking racket is luring Nepalis, with dozens of agents promising to take them to Europe. So far six agents, one consultancy and two manpower agencies have been found to be involved. Of the 37 cases registered at the Bureau, 14 agents are linked with the scam but only 9 have been arrested so far.

Note : This reporting is originally published in https://ekantipur.com/news/2018/07/31/15330009914215984.html

Translated version was published in : https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/lost-and-not-found/

Aharrowing story of how Nepalis are paying a network of international traffickers to make arduous and expensive journeys through the Caribbean has just emerged as survivors returned to Nepal from Cuba.

Sumitra Kunwar from Bhaktapur was with two other Nepali women who paid human traffickers more than Rs 4 million, but she died of hunger and dehydration during the last leg of their perilous bid to get to the United States last year. Her decomposing body was thrown overboard by other passengers in a boat that ran adrift en route from Port au Prince to Florida.

Two other Nepali women were among those rescued by a Coast Guard vessel and sent back to Nepal from Havana. The two, who did not want to be identified, said they met Sumitra at a hotel in New Delhi who told them she knew an agent who could get them to the US for Rs 2 million each. The agent claimed to run a film company KP Films that was a cover for human trafficking. This company was in turn involved with Haiti Films, another dubious company run by Haitian national Charles Elesto who is involved in trafficking people into the US by boat through Port au Prince.

Haiti Films sent invitations for the three women to work as actresses and production mangers in Haiti, in its new film Sanskar, supposedly a joint venture with KP Films. After receiving invitation letters, they all left New Delhi for Haiti in January 2017 via Moscow, Bogota and the Dominican Republic. In Port au Prince, they were kept in a congested apartment where five other Nepalis were already waiting for months to travel on to the US.

Elesto kept promising them that they would “soon” be taken to the US. Eventually, after months of uncertainty and hopelessness, they were put on a boat with 12 other migrants from various countries. They were told they would get to the Bahamas in seven hours, and another person would take them on to the Florida coast. But soon, the boat started drifting in the high seas. The passengers ate up all the food in just two days, and soon they were also out of water.

Sumitra suffered from sea sickness, and began to vomit. On the 13th day, desperately thirsty, she drank salt water from the sea and soon died. Other travelers did not want to keep Sumitra’s body on board, fearing that it would decompose. The two other Nepali women watched as her body was tossed overboard.

On the 18th day, the boat was rescued by the Coast Guard and taken to the Bahamas from where the US Embassy in Washington had them taken to Havana for their flights back to Nepal. An embassy staffer said they did not want to return home since they had lost so much money, so they tried to hide in Cuba. They were arrested and detained for three weeks by Cuban immigration. The women said they were not trying to hide, but missed their flight.

The women said they spent more than Rs 6.5 million during their year-long ordeal, of which Rs 4 million was paid to the traffickers.

Note : This reporting is originally published in Kantipur daily, link: https://ekantipur.com/News/2018/05/19/152674539548273546.html Translation version of this reporting was published in Nepali times, link : https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/nepali-boat-people/

Loose laws, illiteracy and poverty, along with an unsuspicious welcome of foreigners, have turned Nepal into a haven for Western paedophiles.

Janakraj Sapkota

On the afternoon of July 8, there was a commotion outside the usually quiet white brick-and-cement Kavre District Court.

The presence of two high-ranking diplomats at a court hearing was unheard of. The Canadian Embassy in New Delhi had written a diplomatic note to the Nepal government to help Amanda Strohan, Chargé d'affaires at the Delhi-based Canadian Embassy, and counsellor Veronique Deshaies attend the hearing of Peter Dalglish, a Canadian aid worker and “humanitarian” facing trial for paedophilia.

Dalglish wasn’t just any foreign national. He was a former UN official who had served as country representative at UN Habitat Afghanistan and had received the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours. Dalglish had co-founded Street Kids International in 1988, to “work for conflict victims and street children”, and was appointed as chief technical advisor under the UN Child Labour Programme, in 2002. Through Street Kids International, Dalglish had been working for years in Nepal with vulnerable children.

The hearing took place a little over a year after Dalglish was arrested from his house in Kavre--with two children, aged 12 and 14--by the Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau. Despite denying all allegations, he was found guilty of paedophilia and sentenced to nine years in prison by the court that day.

Dalglish’s might have been a high-profile case but it was hardly singular. This was just one in a series of incidents where foreign nationals, often masquerading as aid workers and champions of children’s rights, have been found abusing Nepali children. According to organisations working for child rights, loose laws, illiteracy and poverty, along with an environment where locals are welcoming of foreigners, have increasingly turned Nepal into a haven for paedophiles.

According to Nepal Police, last year alone, they arrested seven individuals—one Nepali and six foreign nationals, including three French, one Dutch, one American and one Indian--on charges of paedophilia. Police officials say at least 25 children were rescued last year and given psycho-social counseling. The year before, in 2017, 12 foreign nationals and two Nepalis had been arrested on charges of paedophilia.

The house in Kavre from where Nepal Police arrested Peter Dalgish in 2018. Dalgish was found with two boys—aged 12 and 14—inside the house.

“Paedophiles are increasingly active in Nepal’s schools, orphanages and childcare homes, taking advantage of poverty, illiteracy and the tendency of Nepalis to become friendly with foreign nationals,” said Assistant Inspector General Pushkar Karki, who is currently with the Central Investigation Bureau and is investigating nearly a dozen child abuse cases.

Although the police are working actively to investigate and prevent child abuse, the country’s crime investigation and judicial processes both have structural weaknesses, which are leading international paedophilies to target Nepal and Nepali children, according to Lori Handrahan, a veteran humanitarian worker who has carried out sexual abuse reviews for the United Nations.

Crimes in Nepal, punished abroad

Although paedophiles are believed to have been operating in Nepal for decades, many of the earliest cases involving foreign nationals were not prosecuted in the country. A lack of proper laws and a lack of awareness in law enforcement regarding the nature of such crimes led to many paedophiles fleeing Nepal before they could be arrested and prosecuted here. However, in a number of instances, the paedophiles were arrested and tried in their home countries.

In 1998, local residents in Chhauni had complained about the activities of Jean-Jacques Hayes, a French national who was associated with an orphanage called the Association for the Children of Chhauni. He was allegedly abusing a ninth-grader from the Panchakanya Secondary School who was living at the orphanage.

Hayes was arrested after organisations working for child rights, such as CWIN, Sathi and Voice of Children, filed a joint police complaint. A case was registered at the Kathmandu District Court, but Hayes fled to France the moment he was released on bail.

After learning of Hayes’ escape, Krishna Thapa, the chair of Voice of Children, communicated with the French organisation, Infant and Development, and with its help, filed a case at the Paris High Court. French police arrested Hayes in 2001.

As the Paris Tribunal had called Hayes’ victims to France to testify, on September 12, 2003, Nepal’s Home Ministry asked the Foreign Affairs Ministry to permit the children to fly to Paris. Eight out of nine boys, between the ages of 15 and 19, arrived in France to give their testimonies. The Paris Tribunal ordered Hayes to not leave the country, but about five months later he disappeared. There were rumours that Hayes had escaped to Istanbul. Interpol, upon the French police’s request, issued a ‘red corner notice’ for Hayes’ arrest.

Following a tip-off, a Nepal Police team found Hayes hiding out in an Attarkhel house in Kathmandu. On investigation, police discovered that Hayes, who had fled nine years ago, had reentered Nepal via Istanbul using fraudulent documents. He was then sent back to France to stand trial.

The Tribunal once again called Nepali children to Paris for their statements, and in 2009, six Nepali boys went to France. Acting on their testimony, the court sentenced Hayes to 10 years in prison and mandated that the victimised children be paid amounts ranging from $5000 to $10,000 in compensation.

Ten years since that verdict, none of the victims have received compensation. Hayes has already sold all of his property, but according to French law, if the perpetrator is unable to provide compensation, the French government will step in. However, that law is only applicable to French citizens, so none of Hayes’ victims are eligible.

“I still have scars from those old incidents,” said one of Hayes’ victims. “I don’t want to recall them now.”

Hayes wasn’t the first paedophile to target Nepali children and he certainly wouldn’t be the last. In the early 2000s, a consensus had built online among paedophiles that Nepal was a relatively safe place for them to prey on children, according to police. Given Nepal’s laxness when it came to policing foreigners who came to Nepal to ostensibly volunteer at orphanages and homes for disabled or destitute children, paedophiles had a ready population of vulnerable children that they could victimise without fear of arrest or prosecution.

There are several other examples where foreigners have entered Nepal purportedly for volunteering and were punished abroad for sexually abusing Nepali children. According to the US Justice Department website, British citizen Simon Jasper McCarthy was sentenced to 30 years in jail for possessing sexual images and videos of Nepali children, and for sexually abusing them, about 12 years ago. The police confiscated over 400 pornographic videos and photographs from his laptop. He had filmed himself sexually abusing children as young as six years old.

In his court statement, McCarthy confessed that he had met three children during his time in Nepal, where he had worked to set up childcare shelters. Out of the three boys, two were identified as Nepali.

Fertile ground for paedophiles

In 2017, a report published by ThreatNix, an organisation working on cyber security, said that Nepal had become a centre for western paedophiles, many of whom came to Nepal like McCarthy and Hayes did—under the guise of ‘helping’ children.

“It is no secret that Nepal has been a hub for paedophiles for quite sometime now. Apart from predators visiting the country for child exploitation, Nepal has also garnered quite a reputation in child pornography forums in darknet, following screenshot shows paedophiles’ opinions in Nepal,” says the report.

The screenshot reads: “There are at least 602 child care homes housing 15,095 children in Nepal. Orphanages have turned into a Nepalese industry. There is rampant abuse and a great need for intervention. Many do not require adequate checks of their volunteers, leaving children open to abuse.”

“Moreover,” the report further reads, “there were not only discussions regarding Nepal, many child pornography materials from Nepal were also being distributed from these sites on the darknet. [S]ome Nepali users were also found to be actively distributing contents in these forums.”

On April 5, 2018, the Kathmandu Police arrested 32-year-old Wolf Price from his rented house in Bhakunde Chaur in Chandragiri Municipality. Police raided the house after receiving a tip-off from locals, who claimed that Price was involved in “suspicious activities”. The police confiscated marijuana, condoms and several sleep-inducing drugs. They also rescued three teenagers—two girls aged 19 and 12, and a boy of around 12.

Price, a California native, had been visiting Nepal for the past 12 years. According to the Immigration Department, he arrived in Nepal on a 30-day tourist visa on January 1, 2018. For his second time, Price came to Nepal on March 6, 2018, on a 90-day tourist visa.

In her statement to the police, the 12-year-old girl said that Price would send her and the two other children to run errands, buy cigarettes and alcohol. He would then molest them.

“When he was drunk, he would place us on his lap, order us to massage his body and to wash his face and legs,” the girl told the police, according to a copy of the statement seen by the Post.

In its verdict of August 22, 2018, the Kathmandu District Court sentenced Price to four-months imprisonment and Rs3,000 fine for paedophilia, and a month in jail and a Rs2,000 fine for drug abuse. As Price had been taken into police custody on April 5, 2018, he served only one additional day in jail and was released on August 23, 2018. Price flew back to the US and the Home Ministry has decided, through a secretary-level meeting, to ban Price from entering Nepal for 10 years.

Price is not the only foreigner who’s been banned from entering Nepal due to child abuse convictions. On December 19, 2014, Canadian Fenwick MacIntosh was arrested for child abuse and sentenced to four years and two months in jail. Upon his release, he was banned from Nepal for seven years. Similarly, German Hans Jurgen Gustav was banned for seven years after being convicted on child abuse charges.

This year alone, there have been at least three police cases involving foreign paedophiles.

On January 4, police in Toronto arrested Paul McCarthy, a 62-year-old Canadian, from the Toronto Pearson International Airport for possession of child pornography. He was returning home after serving as a volunteer at a childcare home in Kathmandu. He was charged with sexually abusing five boys below 16 years of age. According to CBC News, all five boys were Nepali.

McCarthy was one of the donors of an NGO called Child Haven International, which operates several “shelter homes” in Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Tibet. According to the organisation’s website, he was associated with the NGO since 1992. The Canadian police haven’t disclosed whether the children he sexually abused were from the same shelter.

Before he was arrested, McCarthy’s visits to Nepal were becoming more frequent. According to Nepali immigration records, he came to Nepal three times since March 2017—the first time that month, a second time in September, and again in December. He then quickly returned to Nepal, days later, on January 1, and flew back to Toronto on January 8.

“We certainly never saw any signs or indication that he was that type of person and I hope he isn't. I hope it's a false allegation,” said Bonnie Cappuccino, international director for Child Haven.

On January 28, the Canadian Embassy in India informally notified Nepal Police’s Interpol Bureau about McCarthy’s arrest. Soon afterwards, the bureau sent an internal memo to acquire more details. Umesh Raj Joshi, senior superintendent at the Interpol Bureau, confirmed to the Post that the victims of McCarthy’s abuse were Nepali children but declined to provide more detail.

In an interview with the Post, the headmaster at a local school built with funds provided by Child Haven International said that McCarthy would visit the school regularly.

“He would take the students on tours, but we never heard about any cases of abuse,” said Prakash Nagarkoti, principal at the Gokarneshwor-based Green Tara Heaven School. “We have helped the Central Investigation Bureau and Ottawa Police by providing all the information we have.”

Then, on January 19, the Central Investigation Bureau arrested Iain Robert Cole, a 50-year-old British man, from his rented flat in Kalimati. Cole had arrived in Kathmandu with Gene Derek Scott and police discovered that both individuals had entered Nepal with the insidious motive of abusing children under the guise of helping them. Scott had already fled Nepal when police nabbed Cole.

Following the arrest, the police launched correspondence with the British Police to learn of Cole’s background. In a confidential notice sent by the National Crime Agency, the UK Police’s crime investigation wing, officers said both Cole and Scott had been under investigation for paedophilia allegations in the UK and that their crimes had spread from their home country through India to Nepal.

According to the UK Police, when investigating Cole’s Skype account, they had discovered suspicious correspondence with teenagers in Nepal that were “sexual and of a grooming nature”. The confidential notice sent to the Nepal Police, a copy of which was seen by the Post, has enough detail to cast doubt on the duo’s purported motive of helping Nepali children. Most tellingly, the notice states an incident where Cole was investigated by UK Police in 2017 for possessing pornographic photos of children. Cole was found guilty and given a suspended sentence. He was, however, placed on the UK sex offender’s register for 10 years.

After Cole was arrested in Kathmandu, the National Crime Agency raided his home in North-east London in the UK and confiscated 97 pieces of hardware, including cell phones, tablets, computers, hard drives and memory cards. In February, Cole was remanded into judicial custody by the Kathmandu District Court and is currently at the Central Jail.

An inability to police

Nepal Police officials themselves admit that previous laws were inadequate to deal with instances of child abuse at the hands of foreigners. This trend has escalated in recent years in Nepal after concerted efforts by countries in South Asia and South East Asia to combat child sexual abuse and the increasing practice of sex tourism, therefore pushing abusers into Nepal.

“Most paedophiles seem to make a shelter in Thailand and roam around Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, because these are countries with loose laws regarding child abuse. For them, these countries are fertile ground,” said Deputy Inspector General Mira Chaudhary, who was involved in a number of investigations on foreign paedophiles in Nepal.

Thailand formulated a strict anti-child abuse law in 1992. Since then, paedophiles from western countries began setting sights on vulnerable countries like Nepal. Cases have increased even more in Nepal, after India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia each formulated new laws regarding child abuse.

Many countries, including England and Australia, have strict laws regarding paedophilia. In 2003, the British government issued the Extra-territorial Legislation, Section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 that allows the investigation of English nationals if they engage in paedophilia outside the country under ‘international jurisdiction’.

Geoffrey John Prigge, an Australian citizen who was sentenced in 2007 for molesting five Nepali boys, was charged under legislation that allows the Australian federal police to investigate Australians involved in serious crimes abroad and then prosecute them at home.

Since the early 2000s, when foreigners began to get arrested for cases of child sexual abuse, Nepal has attempted to draft robust laws in response. Article 225 of Nepal’s new criminal code, released in 2017, specifically addresses child sexual abuse: “Anyone who takes a child to a secluded place with the intent of rape, touches a child’s body parts inappropriately, or forces a child to touch or hold one’s body parts, or engages in any other inappropriate sexual behaviour shall be considered to have committed child sexual abuse.”

The criminal code mandates a three-year jail term and Rs30,000 in fines for anyone guilty of the above.

Article 66 (3) of Nepal’s Act Relating to Children 2018 also specifically addresses the many forms of child sexual abuse, including the showing of obscene material; creating any such material using a child; any kind of touching, holding or kissing with sexual intent; using a child to stimulate sexual excitement or sexual gratification; or using a child in sexual exploitation or for sexual services.

But according to Handrahan, who is also the author of Epidemic: America’s Trade in Child Rape, Nepal needs to take more stringent investigative measures if it wants to put a halt to western paedophiles turning the country into a hub for child rape and abuse.

“These almost exclusively white male Western predators apparently believe Nepal’s police, prosecutors and judges are poor, incompetent and corrupt,” said Handrahan, “and appear to be making a risk-calculation that Nepali investigators, prosecutors and judges earn small salaries, lack integrity and therefore can easily be ‘purchased’ by western predators who enjoy substantial inherited wealth, like Peter Dalglish, and/or much larger professional salaries.”

It is because of this inability to actively investigate and gather the evidence required for prosecution that paedophiles tend to avoid prosecution or are set free on minimal bail amounts.

At a recent programme held in the Capital, Judge Tek Bahadur Kunwar of the Patan High Court related how he had ruled that a Canadian citizen convicted of child abuse be forced to sell his property in Canada in order to pay compensation to his victim. He had even asked the Foreign Ministry for assistance in this regard. However, the Canadian appealed the decision at the Supreme Court, which upheld the seven-year jail term imposed by Kunwar but reduced the compensation due.

“Even though the accused was punished, the victim received little compensation and this too can make it difficult to control such incidents,” said Kunwar.

According to advocate Prawin Subedi, who has long pursued cases of child abuse, Nepal might have formulated laws regarding child sexual abuse but a lack of clarity remains. Victims, who are often as young as five, are asked to testify in court or provide statements to the police. However, as they are children, they are unable to clearly state the extent of the abuse or even how and when it happened. The police too have shortcomings, said Subedi, because they are unable to collect and present the evidence in time.

“There is a need for more clarity along with improvements to investigative and procedural processes,” said Subedi.

Given the increasing incidents of child abuse at the hands of foreigners, Nepal must prioritise combating these kinds of crimes, according to Handrahan.

“Nepal, as a society, and Nepal’s current government must make it a priority to fund and support an extremely well-staffed, expertly trained and well-funded Child Sexual Exploitation Cyber Crimes Unit that would include hundreds, if not thousands, of investigators trained in the use of the latest technology in this fight against child sex traffickers and predators,” said Handrahan. “Such a unit would also include thousands of prosecutors and judges trained in the latest legal strategies for prosecuting and sentencing these predators.”

According to Nepal Police spokesperson DIG Bishwa Raj Pokhrel, the police has recently been pursuing serious investigations into child abuse cases with the assistance of Interpol and agencies from other countries. It is collecting intelligence and presenting evidence in a much more systematic and diligent manner, said Pokhrel.

“We understand that Nepali children are at grave risk of child abuse,” said Pokhrel. “This is why the police are treating these cases with the utmost seriousness.”

Originally published in : https://kathmandupost.com/national/2019/11/15/under-the-guise-of-humanitarian-aid-high-profile-paedophiles-are-abusing-nepali-children

Nepali version of this report is published in:

https://cijnepal.org.np/00037-2019/

https://ekantipur.com/news/2019/11/16/157387020719182434.html?author=1

Janak Raj Sapkota

Note : This reporting is originally published in Kantipur daily, link: https://ekantipur.com/News/2018/05/19/152674539548273546.html Translation version of this reporting was published in Nepali times, link : https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/nepali-boat-people/

The house in Kavre from where Nepal Police arrested Peter Dalgish in 2018. Dalgish was found with two boys—aged 12 and 14—inside the house.

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