Families of the three missing disciples of Ram Bahadur Bomjan—Fulmaya Rumba, Sancha Lal Waiba and Chunmo Dolma Tamang—have appealed to the government to search the whereabouts of their relatives.

Organising a press conference in Kathmandu on Friday, they requested the government to investigate the ashrams run by Bomjan to find their loved ones.    

Nuwakot native Chunmo Dolma and Sancha Lal of Makwanpur have been missing from Bomjan’s ashram in Sindhupalchok since 2012 and 2015, their families said. Another Makwanpur resident Fulmaya has been missing from the ashram based in Halkhoriya, Bara, since 2014.

Suresh Ale Magar of Bara has also been missing from one of the ashrams run by Bomjan and his aides. His family members were not present at Friday’s press conference. 

 “When I tried to meet Bomjan to inquire him about my daughter, I wasn’t allowed to meet him. The other people at the ashram said that they did not know my daughter,” said Fulmaya’s father Bir Bahadur.

The case about their disappearance was brought to the public attention after Setopati published a series of reports on Bomjan, accusing him of sexually exploiting his female followers and using violence to intimidate those who speak against him.

 “If they are dead then we want to know where their bodies are. If they are alive, allow us to meet them,” Ganga Maya Tamang, sister of Chunmo said.

The families of the missing persons refused to comment when asked about the sexual allegations against Bomjan.   

But Prem Dorje Bal Lama, a member of Nepal Ahinsabadi Bauddha Dharma Biswashanti Chakra Sang Nepal, called out Bomjan for lying and abusing his followers.

“The government should investigate Bomjan and the activities that are taking place inside his ashrams,” he said.