‘A reminder of darkness’: Mourners in Nepal bid farewell to slain Gaza hostage Bipin Joshi

Slain Nepali hostage Bipin Joshi was mourned by his loved ones in a traditional Hindu cremation ceremony in his hometown of Kanchanpur on Tuesday, two years after he was kidnapped from Israel and slain in captivity in Gaza.

Joshi’s remains arrived in Nepal on Monday, a week after his body was returned to Israel by Hamas as part of a ceasefire deal. Joshi, an agricultural student who had arrived in Israel in September 2023 at age 23, was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists from Kibbutz Alumim on October 7, 2023, and killed in captivity.

Until the return of his body last week, Joshi’s fate had remained unclear, though Israeli authorities had expressed grave concern after no sign of life had been received from him since very early in the war. After his body was returned, the IDF said that its initial estimation was that he was “murdered in captivity in the first months of the war,” but that it had not made a final determination.

“Tihar is the festival of lights, but it will always be a reminder of darkness for us,” Kishor Joshi, his cousin, told The New York Times at his funeral, referencing the current Hindu festival of lights being celebrated in Nepal. “After two years of sleepless nights and struggle for his release, all we receive today is his lifeless body.”

In a statement provided by his family last week, they said that “Bipin left us with excitement, setting out for a yearlong learning experience in Israel. We never imagined that the hug we gave him that day would be the last.”

His family added: “Every flower in the garden we planted for you will remind us of you, every orchard, every field. You are part of Nepal’s landscape, and now also part of Israel’s.”

Joshi’s body was met in Kathmandu at the airport on Monday by Prime Minister Sushila Karki, who praised him for his heroism.

“Bipin’s courage and bravery are a matter of pride for every Nepali,” Karki said. “He is a son of Nepal, a son of every mother. We will never forget him,” she added. “He lives in our hearts.”

Joshi deflected a grenade during the attack on October 7 and saved the lives of a number of people before he was taken hostage from a bomb shelter on the outskirts of Alumim, where he had arrived to work and study for a year.

His family campaigned for two years to have him freed from Hamas captivity, although in recent months Israeli authorities indicated that they no longer believed he was among the living.

Earlier this month, his family released a video of Joshi in captivity, made shortly after he was kidnapped and taken to Gaza, aiming to increase the pressure for his return.

Only after his body was returned, his family said they felt comfortable revealing his heroism on October 7 in deflecting grenades inside the kibbutz bomb shelter.

“We were so afraid that they would know you were a hero, that they would harm you — we only prayed you would survive,” his family wrote. “Before you were taken, you managed to send a message to your cousin, asking him to be strong and always look toward the future. It is hard to imagine a future without you, Bipin.

Jessica Steinberg and agencies contributed to this report.