The body of a Nepali migrant worker who died in Iraq last year was buried without his family's knowledge or consent despite months of efforts to repatriate his remains to Nepal, raising questions about the handling of the case by his employer and the authorities involved in the repatriation process.

Bimal BK, 33, of Sarangkot, Pokhara-18, died in Baghdad on July 27, 2025, after working in the Iraqi capital for two years and two months. His family, who had spent nearly a year waiting for his body to be returned, learned only in the third week of May this year that he had already been buried about two months earlier.

“Your brother’s body was buried in Baghdad two months ago. We only found out recently,” Tika Bahadur BK, a Nepali working in Baghdad, told Bimal’s younger brother Sujan BK over the phone in the third week of May.

According to a letter sent to the family by Bimal’s employer, the local Shmesani Restaurant, he died after falling ill. However, the death certificate issued by Iraq’s Ministry of Health lists the cause of death as a heart attack.

Sujan, who had worked alongside his brother at the same restaurant for six months before returning to Nepal, said the employees routinely worked 17 to 18 hours a day.

“I fell ill and could no longer continue working, so I returned home,” Sujan said. “My brother also had chronic back problems. When he went for a medical check-up, the hospital recommended that he be admitted. However, promising to bring him back the following day, the company brought him back to his room instead. He died that very night.”

Iraq-related consular affairs are handled by the Nepali Embassy in Kuwait, which appoints local representatives because it lacks the resources to travel regularly to Iraq.

To facilitate the handover and repatriation of Bimal’s body, the embassy authorised local lawyer Osama Hikmat Tamer and Nepali representative Tika Bahadur to coordinate with the relevant authorities and his employer.

They said they had been in contact with Shmesani Restaurant to arrange the repatriation. However, Bimal’s body was buried at Wadi al-Salam cemetery, around 300 kilometres from Baghdad, without informing either of the embassy’s authorised representatives.

Tika Bahadur informed the family only after obtaining a video showing Bimal’s cemented grave.

“We had been waiting for my brother’s body to arrive. The company kept assuring us it would be sent,” Sujan said. “Then, all of a sudden, we were told that he had already been buried. It felt like the ground had disappeared beneath our feet.”

The family still does not know exactly when or why the burial took place. Monday marked one year since Bimal’s death.

“Even waiting a week after hearing that someone has died is unbearable. We have waited an entire year,” Sujan said. “Our elderly mother is at home. We keep travelling to Kathmandu hoping to learn when the body will arrive so we can perform his last rites. Every day has become difficult.”

Sujan said he filed an application with the Department of Consular Services in the third week of August last year seeking the return of his brother’s body.

“I repeatedly visited the department to ask when the body would arrive, but every time I was told only that the process was ongoing,” he said. “The embassy also kept saying it would happen the following week.”

Authorities in Iraq have yet to explain how the burial took place.

“If a body remains in a hospital for more than six months, it may be treated as unclaimed. The hospital may have buried it on that basis,” lawyer Osama told Kantipur. “The employer appears to have acted irresponsibly.”

The family believes Shmesani Restaurant allowed the body to be classified as unclaimed to avoid the high cost of repatriation.

Sending a body from Baghdad to Nepal costs nearly Rs1 million.

“At first, the company promised to send the body and said it would happen soon. Later, the owner stopped responding,” Sujan said. “We just want my brother’s body back so we can perform his funeral according to our traditions. We appeal to the government to help us.”

On May 14 this year, the Nepali Embassy in Kuwait wrote to Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iraqi Embassy in Kuwait, requesting that the necessary legal procedures and investigation be completed so that Bimal’s body could be repatriated to Nepal.

In response, on June 18, Duraid Musab Al-Awadi, deputy head of Iraq’s Consular Department, wrote to the Supreme Judicial Council, the Court of Appeal and the Al-Karrada Investigation Court, requesting that they complete the necessary investigation and legal procedures and report back to the department.

Tika Bahadur said he had approached the court to understand the legal process for exhuming the body. The court told him that legal action would have to be filed against the employer.

“The government process for exhumation is extremely lengthy. It appears we will have to pursue a court case and approach multiple government agencies. We are now looking for a local lawyer. Exhuming the body and repatriating it to Nepal will cost a substantial amount of money, and it is still unclear who will bear the expense,” Tika Bahadur said.

He said the employer had refused to take responsibility for either exhuming the body or paying for its repatriation.

“The employer says it will only do what the court orders,” he said.

Tika Bahadur warned that the process could now stall because of a lack of funds. The family cannot afford the legal and logistical costs involved.

An official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal said the Nepali Embassy does not have a budget to cover the costs involved in exhuming and repatriating the body.

“He did not have labour approval. Since the Foreign Employment Board cannot assist in such cases, a separate budget allocation from the Ministry of Finance would be required,” the official said. “The matter has not yet been discussed at the higher level.”