Giving up hope to retrieve body, Nepali family perform cremation of deceased mercenary using "Kush"

The deceased, identified as 37-year-old Binod Bahadur Sunuwar, had resigned from the Nepal Army a few years ago. His family conducted the cremation using the sacred grass in the absence of his body, which could not be retrieved.

"My son (Binod Bahadur Sunuwar) went to Russia and died there, we had expected he will be returning back to Nepal, it had been one year he went to Russia in last October (2024). I had the confidence that he will certainly return but now, even the body couldn't be brought back nor he came alive. We all are in aghast, he was working as (Nepali) Army, there wasn't such need for him to go there (as Nepali mercenary to Russia)," Nar Maya Sunuwar, the mother of deceased Nepali mercenary told ANI.

Binod, who had previously served on a UN peacekeeping mission, had saved money and was eager to build a house in Kathmandu. However, his dream ultimately cost him his life. He leaves behind his mother, wife, and 15-year-old son in Nepal after dying in a foreign land as a mercenary.

On Monday, a representational body made of sacred grass was brought to the embankments of the Bagmati River for cremation. Binod's 15-year-old son, Bigyan Sunuwar, could not hold back his tears while performing the last rites for his father. The symbolic body was carried from their house in a van, with Bigyan clutching his father's photograph alongside his grandmother, Nar Maya, and maternal uncles.

Before leaving Nepal to work as a mercenary for Russia 16 months ago, Binod had not informed his family about his decision. "He had made the preparations to go and informed me that he's leaving in the evening. I asked him not to go as he just had returned back from Peace Keeping mission (of Nepal Army). He was adamant to go, I tried to convince him not to go immediately, he could have gone later to a country where there was enough earning; he wouldn't have died, he would have lived. He had a dream to build his own house, he went there to earn and build a house of his own," Nar Maya recalled, as her son's symbolic body burned in the background.

The Nepali government does not maintain records of its citizens working as mercenaries for Russia in the ongoing Ukraine conflict. However, in September 2024, Nepal confirmed the deaths of 43 nationals fighting as mercenaries for Russia. Since then, the figure has not been updated.

Binod's family only learned about his death three days ago through various channels, including the organisation Sahayata Nepal, which confirmed his death 75 days after it occurred.

"We don't have hope that his body would be located and retrieved. He's gone forever. If he'd gone elsewhere and hadn't messaged for about three years then we could have survived with the hope that he's still out there and console ourselves," Nar Maya stated.

Nepal's Foreign Ministry has remained silent on the issue after previously warning citizens against becoming mercenaries. Despite this, many Nepalis have been recruited by Russia to fight on the front lines. Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, has resulted in a high number of casualties, including mercenaries from small nations like Nepal.

"In between these times he used to be out of contact for days. Last time when he (Binod) went contactless for 20 days and on twenty-first day he sent me a voice message stating he escaped the death. During that time, we were worried and inquired about his condition using all plausible measures. Telephone communication wasn't possible and voice message was the only option for us to connect in absence of network, deep inside the jungle. He stated that he survived eating mud, grass and returned back. He went to Ukraine from Russia and he was kept in Moscow," Nar Maya recounted.

According to her, Binod was taken to the war zone under orders from the Russian high command. During his last deployment, he did not provide any details about his mission, and his family was left in the dark.

As mercenaries like Binod had mad their way into Russian Army using rouge routes, Nepal finally on 5 January 2024, banned its citizens from travelling to Russia or Ukraine and has also asked Russia to repatriate all Nepalis who were recruited for the conflict. But no response has been made from the other side.

Citing "various news sources and reports from returnees from Russia", former Foreign Minister Dr Bimala Rai Paudyal had previously claimed that as many as 15,000 Nepalis were enlisted in the Russian military. Families of over 200 Nepali mercenaries have filed requests with the consular department, seeking information about their missing loved ones.

"Before his deployment he used to send the voice message stating the details about the materials he is carrying, days of deployment, details about the clothes and other items of his possession. But during his last deployment he didn't mention anything such. I asked my daughter-in-law in case she is informed about it, not even his fellow mates were appraised about his deployment," Nar Maya told ANI.

In their conversations, Binod had mentioned that he had saved approximately 3.5 million rupees in his account. However, his payments were not made during the war but only after his return. With his death, the transfer of these funds remains uncertain for his family.

Nepal has allowed its citizens to join the British and Indian forces under bilateral agreements, but not other armies. To curb unlawful recruitment, the government has mandated that Nepali citizens traveling to Russia must secure a No Objection Letter (NOL) from the Consular Service Department. Nepali citizens residing abroad must also obtain an NOL from the respective embassies.

"He lost the pink toe in the war. It was all injuries on his leg, his leg had deep wounds, he used to send the photos showing the condition there. Upon seeing that, I time and again requested him to come back. He also had injuries on his knees, for its treatment he also shared that he had to stay in hospital for about 5 days. Being concerned about his condition, I asked him whether he will be taken to the war-front, then he replied that no matter the physical condition, everyone is deployed. Despite injuries and decapitated, they were deployed to protect the guns, keep-an-eye on drone, he used to lament a lot about it over the voice messages," the ailing mother told ANI. (ANI)