Victims regret for buying dreams

BANKE, Dec 7: Nisha Bhandari, one of the injured in the Kailali firing, had no idea what the fate had in store for her until she was hit by a bullet in her womb on Friday.



Like her neighbors and relatives, whom she accompanied to Dudejhari jungle, she had also high hope of getting a piece of highly valuable land along the east-west highway. But now, she has no hope to share but the pang of pain.[break]



She had brought her five-year-old son with her to Dudejhari but she is unaware of his whereabouts now. With wet eyes, her husband Tilak looked helpless on Monday while seeing his spouse lying on the bed of the Kohalpur Medical College. "I did not know anything about the whole incident till I was informed that my wife was injured," said Tilak, "I do not know where the son is."



Like Nisha, other victims have been regretting for being swayed by high hopes of getting land.



"I came here with two sons," another victim Radha Bista," I have no idea where they are now."



"I am illiterate. I was told that I would get land," the 28-year-old, whose husband is in India for the last two years, said about the reason of coming to the jungle.



Twenty-four-year-old Rupesh Nepali has bullet in his thigh. Doctors have told him that it would cost Rs 20,000 for him to take out the bullet. But he does not have a single penny.



All of them had come to the jungle after being swayed by the dreams sold by the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Squatters´ Association.



Laxmi Ranabhat, a mother of five, used to run a tea shop before she sustained a bullet injury in her right hand and bruises all over the body. Now she has lost all her belongings that she had brought with her to the jungle for settling down. "I have neither a place to live nor food to eat," she said.



The victims said the squatters´ leaders had compelled them to come to the jungle to capture the land, assuring them of security.



Among the injured, sixteen have been admitted to the medical college while two seriously injured have been taken to Lucknow, India. One have been taken to Kathmandu.



In the meantime, the Maoists have been supporting the injured by providing foods and medical expenses.

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