For 27-year-old Gaurav Joshi of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City-5, education abroad was the dream he had held onto for years. After completing his higher secondary studies in science at Aishwarya Vidya Niketan, he first tried to go to Australia. When that plan failed, he began preparing to move to the United Kingdom.

But on September 9, his aspirations came to a sudden halt. Gaurav was killed during the Gen Z protests in Kathmandu, leaving behind his elderly parents, Basudev and his wife, who had relied on him as their only support in old age.

The shock first reached his niece Sonia Joshi, who recognised him in a protest video on TikTok.

At first, she struggled to believe it was him—until a bank card bearing his name was found among the belongings of a man who had died from gunshot wounds. His brother Praveen confirmed his identity from the clothes and bag Gaurav had carried that day.

The family kept the devastating news from his parents for hours, unable to summon the courage to tell them. It was only late in the evening that they learned their son had been critically injured and was being treated at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital’s ICU. By then, it was too late—Gaurav had already passed away.

Relatives recall Gaurav as gentle and soft-spoken, someone who preferred to stay at home and avoid conflict. He had been living in Koteshwar, Kathmandu, with his mother Maya and sister Ayusha for the past three years. On the day of the protests, his sister had advised him to stay in, but Gaurav assured her he would avoid the unrest. He left home that morning, saying he would stop by a consultancy after lunch. He never returned.

For his parents, both now in their late seventies, the loss has been devastating. Their only hope for care in their final years is gone. Relatives have demanded that those responsible for his death be held accountable and that Gaurav be recognised as a martyr.

What was once a family’s dream of seeing their son study abroad has ended in grief—a story of ambition, sacrifice, and heartbreak silenced by violence.