Key Points
- Durga Prasad Timsina was 20 when arrested by Indian police over reports of an alleged murder
- Mr Timsina denies the allegations
- Timsina's 86-year-old mother Dhanmaya says she is “thrilled” that her son has finally returned home.
When Nepal born Durga Prasad Timsina was 20-years-old, he was arrested by the police in India over reports of an alleged murder. When Mr Timsina walked out of the Dum Dum Central Correctional home in the city of Kolkata, still maintaining his innocence, he had turned 61.
Citing his deteriorating health condition, on 17 March, the Calcutta High Court ordered his release on condition that Mr Timisina's mental health condition be reported to the court every six months.
Speaking at a press conference organised in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, Timsina's cousin Prakash chandra said his cousin had gone from home town of Ilam to Darjeeling, a town in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1980.
He was not heard of since.
Prakash Chandra said his cousin was arrested by the local police in Darjeeling in 1982 allegedly on charges of being a party to a murder.
Durga Prasad Timsina (centre) after being released from a Kolkata correctional centre. Source: The Voice Of Sikkim Youtube
He was then kept locked up in various locations before eventually ending up in Kolkata’s Dum Dum Correctional Home, where he remained until his release.
Despite being released by the Calcutta High Court, Mr Timsina has not yet been cleared of the allegations against him, the allegations he denies.
Timsina's 86-year-old mother Dhanmaya says she is “thrilled” that her son has finally returned home.
For other members of his family, happiness is shrouded with concerns.
Timsina with his mother Dhanmaya, 86 Source: E.Kuraute Youtube
“Will 40 years’ worth of wages compensate him for the erasure of his name from the face of the earth? After he came home, one chapter may have ended, but another has started,” says Prakash Chandra Timsina.
Prakash Chandra says his brother was arrested over allegations of "being involved in the murder of his landlord’s wife", but the victims’ family never showed up after the first police case was lodged.
His family say they searched for him all these years, but nothing came out of it until recently.
However, in 2013, they had received a letter from Deepak Jaishi, who claimed to be Durga Prasad Timsina.
The family wouldn’t believe that at the start.
An Indian man, Radheshyam Das, who had befriended Mr Timsina in jail, informed the public through West Bengal Radio Club about Deepak Jaishi’s real identity after his release in 2020.
Source: The Voice Of Sikkim Youtube
Mr Timsina's family is now seeking compensation from the Indian government for keeping him in jail without trial.
Prakash Chandra says he has been in touch with lawyers in Kolkata.
Although optimistic about his conversations with them regarding his brother, Prakash Chandra says he was told that the Nepali government needs to take the responsibility of his brother's ordeal.
“I don’t think that is going to happen," he says.
Prakash Chandra, who went to receive his brother upon his release from jail, also said his condition was “awful and he could not even speak Nepali well.”
Officials from Timsina's hometown in Nepal say the local government will bear the cost of his treatment and will also take up the matter of his compensation by India with relevant authorities.
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