NUWAKOT, Nov 4: Hari Bahadur Ghale of Barsunchet, Nuwakot, found himself needing more money to support his family. There was his two-year-old daughter to bring up and the cost of everything kept going up.So , like tens of thousands of other Nepali youths, he went to Malaysia in 2000 in hopes of finding well-paying work. He took a loan of Rs 200,000 to get there.
But the fates had other plans for him.Jharana, his daughter, is now 19, and he has not seen her face ever since he left home because he is languishing in a Malaysian jail.In 2003, Ghale was preparing to head back home with the permission of his employer company. They also provided him an air ticket and he was in a hotel room before leaving to catch his flight a few hours later. That's when the Malaysian authorities pounced upon him.
According to his sister Sarala, Ghale's friend Ganesh Tamang had just come to meet him. “Ganesh was into drug smuggling and sensing that police were on his tail he left a bagful of contraband in my brother's room and vanished. My brother was promptly arrested and accused of drug trafficking.”Sajan Tamang of Kimtang, Nuwakot was also arrested along with Ghale.
On November 26, 2009, a Malaysian court found them both guilty and announced them to death . Tamang died in custody on January 20, 2010.While Ghale was spending time in jail, his parents and a sister all passed away. His wife remarried.On September 26, 2012, the Malaysian government commuted the death sentence to 20 years in jail, at the request of the Nepal government.“ I was counting the years till his return,” said Sarala.
“But on October 21 this year, the Malaysian court said Ghale had to spend an additional 13 years and eight months in jail. The ruling has come as a shock to the family.”Sarala is now pleading with the Nepali government to intervene with the Malaysian authorities once again. Ghale was 23 when he went to Malaysia. He has now turned 38 now.
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