A remote village in Rukum West has plunged into grief after two young girls were found dead and another went missing while returning home from a wedding feast, leaving devastated families and a shaken community searching for answers.

The victims, 11-year-old Kalpana Oli and her sister 13-year-old Urmila Oli of ward 3 of Banphikot Rural Municipality were found dead on Tuesday morning along the banks of the Sani Bheri river, about 200 metres apart. The victims’ cousin, 13-year-old Sapana Oli, who accompanied them, remains missing as of Thursday evening.

According to family members, the three girls had gone to attend a wedding feast in Bhalkhola, ward 1 of Musikot Municipality, roughly an hour’s walk from their village across a suspension bridge over the Sani Bheri river.

For Pabita Oli, the mother of Kalpana and Urmila, the tragedy has been overwhelming. Neighbours say she repeatedly faints and drifts into shock as she struggles to come to terms with the deaths.

“My daughters left the house at around 5pm on Monday with their brother and cousin to attend the wedding. They never came back,” said Pabita, her voice trembling.

According to 18-year-old Amrit Oli, the girls’ elder brother, he last saw his sisters at the wedding at around 8pm. “After that I did not see them. I assumed they had already returned home. I stayed with friends and only learned about the incident the next morning,” said Amrit.

Local residents discovered a body along the riverbank early Tuesday morning and alerted the police. It was later identified as Kalpana. During a search of the surrounding area, Urmila’s body was found roughly 200 metres downstream. Sapana, however, has yet to be located despite an ongoing search by police and villagers.

Sapana’s parents, Lok Bahadur Oli and Dilsara Oli, are also in deep distress as hopes of finding their daughter alive fade with each passing day. Police said the girls most likely drowned while attempting to cross the river at night while returning from the wedding.

There is a suspension bridge over the Sani Bheri river in the area. But it is suspected that the girls attempted to wade across the river instead of crossing through the bridge. It takes about five minutes to reach the bridge from the incident site.

Hari Prasad Pun, information officer at the District Police Office in Rukum West, said preliminary investigations have found no evidence of foul play. “Based on the condition of the bodies and the circumstances at the scene, it appears they were swept away while crossing the river. Although the final post-mortem report is yet to arrive, doctors have indicated drowning as the cause of death,” he said.

The tragedy has raised concerns about the safety of children who regularly travel long distances to attend school and social events in the rural areas. Urmila and Sapana were sixth-graders at Tripura Secondary School in ward 1 of Musikot, while Kalpana studied in grade five at Janahit Primary School in their village.

For more than a year, the girls had been commuting across the river to reach school using the same suspension bridge—a journey villagers say had become routine. It is still now clear why the victims chose to wade across the river instead of using the suspension bridge.