UDAYAPUR, Aug 10: Two siblings who had gone missing from Khotang have been found dead in a forest, while four other children who disappeared with them were located safely. The incident took place in Diprung Chuichumma Rural Municipality-3, Chorombu Sapatel, where six children, including the son and daughter of local resident Gobinda Basnet, had left home suddenly on July 7.
Among the missing were Basnet’s 11-year-old daughter Menisha and his 6-year-old son Megaraj, along with four other children from the village. According to former ward chair Indra Bahadur Basnet, the four others were found unharmed, but the siblings were discovered dead in the jungle. Gobinda had been living with his two daughters and one son after his wife left him for a second marriage.
Gobinda, who works as an office assistant at the local Shanti Niketan Secondary School, usually took his children to school with him. However, on the morning of the disappearance, he reportedly left in a hurry, telling them to come later. Instead of going to school, the children left the village with friends. Gobinda realized they were missing only after returning from school.
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During the search, villagers first found a slipper in the forest, and further down, the bodies of the two siblings were discovered in the Sapatel-Kharuwa Khola jungle, near the border of Halesi Tuwachung Municipality and Diprung Chuichumma. Eyewitnesses said that except for Menisha, all the missing children were under 10 and had been seen crossing the Sapsukhola river to reach the Three Star Hydropower site before returning. On their way back, the group apparently lost their way and reached Khamare in Diprung Chuichumma-2, where locals directed them toward Sapatel. However, it is believed the siblings met with the fatal accident before reaching home as night fell.
Villagers suspect they died after falling from a cliff while trying to find their way in the dark, as both bodies had multiple injuries. Gobinda found them around 8:00 PM. After informing the school principal and villagers, they spent the night in the forest beside the bodies.
The next morning, his younger daughter and three other children were found sheltering in a nearby cave. They later told locals they had split from the siblings after nightfall and took refuge there when they could not find them.
The bodies were taken to the village on Friday for cremation without informing police as locals believed it was clearly an accidental fall. However, police have since launched an investigation after receiving reports of the incident, stating that the law requires a post-mortem to confirm the cause of unnatural deaths. The District Police Office has dispatched a team to secure the site and continue inquiries.
