Lost Nepal boy set to be reunited with family

Ramgarh: A lost boy from Nepal was on Monday sent back to his country to reunite with his family at Ghorahi in Dang district in the neighbouring country. Ramu Pun Magar (10), son of Mitralal Pun and Shova KC, got lost and reached Jharkhand via Bihar a year ago, was found in Ramgarh on April 20 last year. Police found the boy and kept him a local shelter home in the district, sources said.
Ramgarh deputy commissioner Sandeep Singh formally handed over to officials from the Nepal embassy at his office on Monday. Singh said, “After verifying all the credentials of the claimants and other formalities, we handed over the boy to our Nepal counterparts, who will reunite him with his parents. The local police found him in April last year and all that he could tell us was that he had lost his way. While we kept him at a local shelter home in Ramgarh, the state government contacted the Nepal embassy to trace his family.”
Bhumi Raj Bhattarai, district coordinator of Peace Rehabilitation Centre in Kathmandu and one of the members of the Nepal contingent, said this could be a case of human trafficking. Bhattarai, a human rights activist, said, “Details of how he reached Bihar and then Ramgarh will be known after he is counselled, but it could be a case of cross-border human trafficking. The boy travelled a long distance to reach Ramgarh and it was learnt that someone paid his bus fare.”