Anil Chaudhari, the 23-year-old son of Gita Devi Chaudhari and Shyam Kishor Chaudhari, has been sentenced to death in Qatar. “Please save our son. We’ve heard he’s being executed. He’s our only son,” Gita Devi and Shyam Kishor beseech anyone who visits their home in Aurahi Municipality-1 in Mahottari, a district in the central plains. They frequently break down and weep, or make a plea to God. Besides Anil, Gita Devi and Shyam Kishor have two daughters, both of whom are married. The Chaudhari family is in profound anxi­ety ever since Anil, who went to Qatar three years ago as a migrant worker, was sentenced to death by firing squad on the charge of murdering and robbing a Qatari national Umair Mohammed Umair Al Ramzani Al-Nauimi. Anil used to work as a general laborer in a car wash company.

 

Just before his arrest 14 months ago, Anil was planning on returning home within a year. Before the death verdict, his family was under the impression that he had committed a misdemeanor. He had told his family that he hadn’t done anything wrong and that he had been held for investigation. Anil’s parents were therefore hopeful that he would be eventually be released.

 

He still talks to them on the phone. “I won’t live. I won’t be able to come home,” Anil tells his parents. “We don’t cry on the phone, because if we do, he will too. So we maintain poise and talk cheerfully with him to boost his confidence,” says Shyam Kishor. “He is our only hope for old age; we haven’t been able to think straight.”

 

“We pray to God day and night and implore the Nepal government to get our son free. In return, we are willing to give all our property to the government,” says a grief-stricken Shyam Kishor.

 

Shyam Kishor and Gita Devi had taken a loan of Rs 150,000 to send Anil to Qatar. The couple live in a rented room after their house was damaged. They have some land and run a small shop in a pushcart. But ever since Anil’s conviction, they have can neither focus on their business nor take good care of their health. The worry has made them emaciated.

 

They had dreams of building a new house after Anil’s return. They were also looking for a bride for him. Such dreams have been dashed. Shyam Kishor has already spent around Rs 60,000 on his trips to Kathmandu to knock on the government’s doors and beg for his son’s life. He is not ready to give up yet, even if that means he has to take more loans.

 

The Nepali embassy in Qatar is coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make an appeal on Anil’s behalf. The embassy has filed a case in Qatar’s appellate court.