Nepal flood families struggle to get death certificates for missing relatives

At the Pashupatinath temple, on the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Madan Lal Lawat joined other families honouring loved ones lost when a flood tore through the China-Nepal border in September, the BBC reported. In Hindu tradition, when a body cannot be recovered, a symbolic effigy is made from sacred "kusha" grass to represent the dead, allowing relatives to perform last rites. With more than 5,000 people still missing and the government ending rescue operations, the BBC reported that this is the only way people like Lawat can honour the dead.

Five of Lawat's relatives, including his brother Mangal, were caught in the water and are still missing. Lawat survived because he was driving his bus outside his village, Betrawati. He said the last he heard from survivors was that his brother died while going door-to-door, trying to warn others to leave. "I don't know how to start over. Police say they're still searching for the bodies, but I'm not sure they'll ever be found," Lawat said.

Legally, the fate of the missing is more complicated. In Nepal, a missing person is only presumed dead after 12 years, according to the BBC. Section 40 of Nepal's Civil Code allows some exceptions, but it has no provision for disasters like the flood.

Families like Lawat's told the BBC they are struggling to obtain death certificates, affecting access to flood compensation, the transfer of properties and inheritance. Relatives can receive up to 25,000 rupees (£122; $162) for funeral costs, in addition to about 200,000 rupees (£981; $1,302) in bereavement compensation for the first relative who died, and 100,000 rupees (£491; $651) for each additional death. The BBC reported this is only possible once they submit a death certificate.

Constitutional law expert Bipin Adhikari said: "In view of the current disaster, the law is outdated." He said the law was meant to account for people who travelled abroad and were not heard from for years, and argued that technology has advanced so it is not as difficult to send or receive information. Lawat said that when he tried to obtain a death certificate last week, officials at the local municipality office turned him away, telling him they were still discussing the issue.

Even when bodies are recovered, identifying them is a slow and challenging task, according to the BBC. More than 1,400 bodies have been recovered so far, and Nepal has little experience in processing DNA at such scale. In some cases, authorities have taken DNA samples, then buried the bodies with markers in the ground, should families claim them.