After months of separation due to COVID-19 induced lockdown, a Nepali woman who had married into an Indian family, wanted to meet her mother who lived at the India-Nepal border. Little did she know that fate has something else in the store and her fateful journey would cost the life of her husband, for no fault of his.
The couple got married in 2018 and even have a one-year-old child. It is said that both the countries share a relationship of 'Beti-Roti' as the majority of men in villages from the area are married to girls hailing from Nepal.
Therefore, the unprecedented incident of firing on Indians that took place on Friday on the India-Nepal border has shocked the residents of Jankinagar, Lalbandi and several villages near the border.
Several locals in Bihar's Sitamarhi district recounted the horrific brutality and intimidation by Nepal's security personnel who had resorted to unprovoked firing on a group of people at the international border, which left one Indian dead and two others injured.
"18-20 shots were fired for over one hour and everyone is reeling with shock even now," said Nitish Kumar, a resident of Jankinagar recalling the incident.
Santosh Kumar, whose elder brother was killed in the firing, said, "Nepal security personnel came inside the Indian border. They were 20-25 people. I was there. Security forces fired and my brother lost his life."
Lagan Kishore, who was detained by Nepal's security personnel after the firing returned to Sitamarhi district of Bihar on Saturday was handed over to the Indian Security Forces at the no man's land on June 13.
While recounting the harrowing experience, Kishore said that during the firing he had rushed towards the Indian side but Nepal Army personnel hit him with a rifle butt and took him to Nepal's Sangrampur. He was also asked to confess that he was taken into custody from the Nepali side.
"We ran to return to India when they started firing, but they dragged me from the Indian side, hit me with a rifle butt and took me to Nepal's Sangrampur. They told me to confess that I was brought there from Nepal. I told them you can kill me but I was brought there from India," said Kishore.
Kishore's son also recalling the incident said that Nepali personnel started abusing them and hit him and his father, who was later detained.
Speaking to , Kishore's son said, "We had gone to meet my brother-in-law. Security personnel started abusing me but I could not understand their language. However, my brother's wife asked them to not abuse. After that, they came to the Indian side and hit me. I told my father about the incident and he confronted them."
"They started beating him and called fellow personnel who started firing and dragged my father from the Indian side, hit him with a rifle butt and took him to Nepal's Sangrampur," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )