Bishnu Bahadur Bayalkoti
Bishnu Bahadur Bayalkoti
The plan to buy a bus and start a business back home, died with Bishnu
Two years ago, Bishnu Bahadur Bayalkoti traveled to Qatar to work as a driver. – He died while driving at work, says the widow, Maya Bayalkoti. Four other Nepalese guest workers died in the same car accident. The money he earned meant that the children could study and one daughter was married off. Now the family feels helpless. – He died at work, so I was hopeful that they would support the family of a person who gave his life for the company, but they have not yet paid. We are in shock and mourning. We're poor and I'm illiterate. What should we do? I do not know, says the widow.
Told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
Bishnu Bahadur Bayalkoti went back to Qatar to work as a driver in 2019. This was his second tour as a migrant worker and this time he worked for a different company.
“When he didn’t get time off to come home for a visit, I asked him to quit,” says Maya Bayalkoti, his wife.
The couple’s oldest daughter, 25, had just gotten married and Maya and the two sons 22 and 17 wanted him to come back. They had been apart for four years.
“We had started planning for a life together again here in Nepal, but instead of welcoming him home, we got news that he had been killed in a car accident,” she says.
Four other Nepali migrant workers died in the same accident.
“He had a ticket booked for September.”
The plan to buy a bus and start a business back home, died with Bishnu. The whole family feels helpless, especially since the two sons also lost their jobs recently.
“He died on the job, so I hoped for a long time that they would give financial support to the family of a man who gave his life for the company, but I haven’t seen any money yet,” Maya says.
So far they have received $11,500 from the insurance company, but the Nepali government and the company haven’t paid anything.
“The recruitment agency says it can take up to one year before they make their decision about compensation and we have no idea how much,” she says. “We are in shock and mourning. I don’t know where to turn with all my questions. We are poor and I don’t know how to read or write. What are we going to do?”
(53)
Permalink