A Nepal pilgrimage became tragic for a family in Ghaziabad when rioters torched a luxury hotel in Kathmandu, killing a woman and trapping dozens of Indian tourists.
Ramveer Singh Gola, 58, and his wife Rajesh Devi, 55, had come to Kathmandu on September 7 to see the Pashupatinath temple. But on the evening of September 9, angry protests turned fatal as protesters set government and private offices, including their five-star hotel, on fire.
The violence was the aftermath of ‘Gen Z-led’ protests on September 8 for greater transparency in the government and revocation of the social media ban.
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Incident Details
The older son, Vishal, remembered the terror-filled night: “The crowd attacked he hotel and burned it. When the stairwells filled up with smoke, my father smashed the windowpane, tied bed linens and jumped onto a mattress. My mother slipped when attempting to slide down and landed on her back heavily.”
Guests had been asked by rescue teams to jump onto mattresses downstairs. Ramveer remained alive with minor injuries, but Devi received severe spinal injuries and died on the night of September 10 at a Kathmandu hospital.
Vishal informed that his parents were overjoyed after going to Pashupatinath on September 8. “They even video-called us to display Kathmandu’s attractions,” he said. But then came the fire, and communication blockouts hindered the family’s search.
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“For two days, we didn’t know where they were. Then my father was discovered in a relief camp, but my mother passed away in the hospital. The Embassy’s help was minimal, and local rescue came very late,” he stated.
As violence escalated, Indian tourists made a beeline to escape Nepal. At the Sonauli border, Shkaen Ramveer recounted, “We had come only to pray at Pashupatinath. But rioters burned the hotel. Thousands of Indian tourists are stranded in Nepal, mainly from Delhi, Rajasthan, MP, and Uttarakhand.”
States have started the evacuation process. The Andhra Pradesh government organized chartered flights, with several dozen stranded Indians escorted safely from Kathmandu and Pokhara to India.
