Arabic version: عائلة بيكرام لاما تستعد لإعادته إلى نيبال

According to ABC News, the family of Bikram Lama is preparing to bring his body back to Nepal after it was officially verified this month. Lama, 33, was found outside Sydney’s St James Station last December, where his body had gone undiscovered for six days.

His cousin, Sanjeeb Syangtan Lama, said the Nepalese embassy contacted him in January about a body found near Hyde Park. Identification was delayed because of decomposition, and Interpol arranged DNA samples from Lama’s mother, Seti Maya Lama. After seven months of uncertainty, the coroner told Sanjeeb that the body had been verified and released.

Lama had come to Australia as an international student in 2013 after his family sold land in their village of Simpani, south of Kathmandu, to support his education. He was sleeping rough at the time of his death. Sanjeeb described him as quiet, helpful and someone who kept to himself. Seti Maya Lama, 73, wants to see her only son one last time before the family says goodbye.

The family prefers a Buddhist cremation in its village, but repatriation will cost thousands of dollars for mortuary care, documentation, air transport and ambulance transportation. The Non-Resident Nepali Association is contributing through its social welfare fund, while community members are also crowdfunding. NSW coordinator Usha Kiran Bariya said the community had not known Lama had been homeless for so long. Sanjeeb said that without enough money, Lama may be cremated in Sydney without his mother present.