Abhishek Shrestha of Itahari, Sunsari, had hoped to lift his family out of hardship by working abroad. Instead, the 23-year-old was killed when police opened fire during a protest in Itahari on September 9.

Shrestha, a permanent resident of Titribana in Ramdhuni Municipality, had recently completed training for a security guard in Kathmandu and submitted his paperwork to a labour recruiting agency. His family said his visa for Saudi Arabia had already been issued, and he was in the final stage of preparations to leave.

On the day of the protest, police shot him in the shoulder near the municipality office. He collapsed on the road and died on the spot due to heavy bleeding.

Shrestha had been living in a rented room in ward 5 of Itahari and worked part-time at a hotel as a photographer to support his family. Relatives said he chose foreign employment after finding it difficult to manage expenses with local earnings.

His mother accused the police of deliberately targeting her son. She said her home has been left empty and urged that no family should face such a loss. The family has demanded that a bust of Shrestha be built at Itahari’s main intersection in his memory.