By Lilaraj Jhapali
Jhapa, Dec. 11: With the sole breadwinner in a Qatari prison for the past one year on charge of murdering his friend, the family dependent on him back in home has been suffering a lot.
Subash Raut, a 30-year-old resident of Ward No. 4 of Kankai Municipality, is accused of murdering Lamakaji Rai, a resident of Khotang and his roommate in Qatar.
The couple has a 10-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son.

However, Kumari Raut, wife of Subash, said that Subash did not murder Lamkaji.
“When Subash returned to the room after completing his duty, he found Rai injured of a stab wound. Panicked by what he saw, Subash frantically searched for household remedies and bandaged the wound in an effort to keep Lamakaji alive. He called others for help but was wrongly termed the ‘murderer’,” said Kumari.

According to Kumari, Subash was sentenced to prison on the basis of his finger prints. On the day of the murder, Kumari said that she had a phone call with her husband who informed her of returning towards his room from the job, but after 10 pm he suddenly went out of contact.
The witnesses also informed that Subash and Lamkaji were good friends and used to call each other’s families too.

A court in Qatar has sentenced Subash to a minimum of three years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of Rs. 250,000 in blood money.
“If we are unable to pay the blood money, my husband will be languished in prison for life,” said Kumari.
When the local representatives met with the family of Lamkaji and inquired about the incident, they reached an agreement that a fine of Rs. 1.5 million would help Subash return Nepal.

“Since both accused and victim are Nepalis, an agreement under the Nepali government can help Subash return,” said Roshan Subedi, a local representative. However, the family of Raut is poor and can barely manage such a large amount.
Ever since Subash was sent to prison, Kumari has been working as a manual labour to support their children. They have a small house constructed over government-owned land.

“Even if we sell all the property we have now, we can hardly manage Rs. 500,000,” said Kumari. Faced with untold hardships, Kumari has been asking for help from several individuals to repatriate her husband.
Meanwhile, a committee led by Ward No. 4 chairman Govinda Poudel has been formed to help Subash return home.