Binod Kumar Sah
Binod Kumar Sah
The toddler newer saw his father
When they spoke during the week before his death, Binod Kumar Sah often asked about his youngest son, who had not yet turned one year old. He had never met his son and was looking forward to it. - Now the son is fatherless. He was never allowed to see his father. We have all become orphans, says the widow Sunita Kumari. Sunita describes their financial situation as “pathetic”. If children could go to school for free, there could be a future. - I not only lost my husband, I also lost the opportunities to live. And I do not accept that my husband, who was only 36, would have taken his life. Never!
Told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
Sunita Kumari became one of the many migrant-worker widows in 2020. She was told her husband Binod Kumar Sah committed suicide, but doesn’t believe he would kill himself and leave her and their five children to fend for themselves.
Sunita Kumari, who lives in Siraha, says despite the distance and the years apart, she and her husband spoke almost every day. Often about their children, three daughters and two sons.
“He was always very particular about their education and future,” she says.
And then suddenly one day she got that fatal call from Qatar. She was told that her husband had committed suicide and was so shocked that she passed out.
“The whole world went dark,” she says. “I didn’t just lose my husband I lost all opportunities for an income. And I don’t accept that my husband, who was only 36 years old, would have killed himself. Never.”
During all the years Binod Kumar Sah traveled back and forth to Qatar, he was open about life and told her what happened at work when they spoke on the phone.
“He could be nervous some times when there had been fights and conflicts at work,” the widow says. “I think he was murdered. He would never leave me and our children to fend for ourselves.”
The week before he died, they spoke a lot about their youngest, a son who hadn’t yet turned one. Binod Kumar Sahnever got a chance to meet his son.
“I alone have to raise and pay for five children, pay their education,” the widow says. “I’m caring for an infant, and I also had stomach surgery recently. The operation alone cost more than a thousand dollars. That’s not counting painkillers and other meds. On top of this we are huddling in a little hut of bamboo. It feels like we are doomed.”
The family recently received $5,753 in compensation from the Foreign Employment Board.
“But the company my husband worked for hasn’t paid a single Rupee. They didn’t only get my husband’s labor during all these years, his sweat and hard, hard work. In the end he also gave his life to the company,” Sunita Kumari says. “And still, they aren’t paying anything. I will have to rely on the government to be able to survive and raise my kids. If they can got to school for free, there could be hope for my family.”
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