As missing figures rise, kin of Nepal flood victims seek law change for death certificates

Relatives of people missing in Nepal’s devastating Aug 26 floods are pressing govt for a fast-track legal mechanism to have them declared dead, saying absence of bodies and death certificates has blocked compensation, insurance claims, bank access, inheritance and property transfers. The demand gained urgency after authorities revised the number of missing from 5,179 to 6,150, while Nepal’s death toll stood at 1,403, with only 158 bodies identified.Some families, having lost hope of finding their relatives alive, have already performed symbolic last rites using effigies made of kusha grass where bodies were never recovered. But legally they remain in limbo, unable to obtain death certificates required for relief payments and other financial settlements.Prem Pokharel, whose younger brother Durga Prasad disappeared while working at the immigration office in Timure, said he had almost given up hope. “He hasn’t been found. I don’t believe he is alive,” Pokharel told TOI.Sabitri Tamang of Nuwakot said the legal deadlock had also stopped families from receiving money needed for funeral rites. After approaching her ward office for assistance, she was told nothing could be released without a death certificate.Nepal’s Civil Code generally allows a person continuously missing for 12 years to be presumed dead, but section 40(4) provides a separate route for relatives to seek a judicial declaration of death when someone disappears or is believed to have died in a disaster or accident. Courts can make such a declaration even without recovery of a body if sufficient evidence establishes the circumstances.Families and local officials, however, say forcing thousands of flood-hit households to separately approach courts, collect documents, produce witnesses and establish the circumstances of disappearance would create another costly and lengthy ordeal.Uttargaya rural municipality chief administrative officer Jayaram Upreti said ward offices currently lacked authority to issue death-related documents where no body had been recovered and identified.Nuwakot chief district officer Shambhu Prasad Regmi acknowledged the uncertainty confronting families and said authorities had discussed extending facilities available to families of the deceased to those whose relatives remained missing.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.