Endangered Raute community loses another member

SURKHET: A young man from the nomadic Raute community in Dailekh district passed away on Wednesday.

Birkha Bahadur Shahi, 22, who had been bedridden for six months due to lung and liver disease, passed away last night. Birkha Bahadur was from the Raute settlement living in the forest of Simesalma in Gurans Rural Municipality-1 of Dailekh.

The young man, part of the Raute community known for refusing medical treatment, was only taken to the Karnali Provincial Hospital in Surkhet on September 16. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis. When the Raute elders refused to allow a biopsy for further cancer testing, the hospital had discharged Shahi on Wednesday evening. He died while returning to his settlement.

Birkha Bahadur was cremated on the same night as per Raute tradition, according to Lal Bahadur Khatri, a teacher affiliated with the Raute project.

This Raute settlement, comprising 42 households, now has only 134 members. The population of this nomadic community has been steadily declining each year. Since 2018, the community has lost 43 lives. Many members of this endangered community have been losing their lives prematurely largely due to excessive alcohol consumption.

Both Karnali Province Government and Gurans Rural Municipality have been providing monthly allowances to members of Raute community.