A fifth person has gone missing from the ashram of Ram Bahadur Bomjon who calls himself a sage.
A father contacted Setopati saying his son has also gone missing for three years after going to Bomjon's ashram after we published the news report titled 'Series of sexual exploitation and violence in Bomjon's ashrams' documenting how four persons are missing from his ashram.
"It has been three years. Our son is not in contact and does not even come home," Hasta Bahadur Ale Magar of Jitpur Simara sub-metropolitan city 12 said over the phone. "The relatives ask us why we have not searched for him. Bomjon's followers tell us he will come back. Where do we go to search him?"
Magar told Setopati that his only son Suresh had returned home after the Gorkha Earthquake in 2015. He claimed that Bomjon's disciple Jas Bahadur Waiba had convinced his son, who had returned home for good, to return to ashram and taken him. "Waiba took our son in his own bike. I had given my son Rs 1,000 and his mother Rs 400 before leaving."
Magar revealed his son has not contacted the family ever since. The family reached Waiba's house in Piluwa village nearby and asked about the son. Waiba told the family members that the son is in Thailand. "Your son is in Thailand. He will come. I have seen on Facebook," Magar quoted Waiba as saying. "He did not say anything more."
The family has not been able to locate the son on Facebook despite continuous attempts. "Our relatives are looking for him on Facebook. But nobody has found him," he added.
He said the family has not even found Waiba after that. "Waiba apparently lives in Kathmandu. He cannot be found here. Nobody gives his phone number. They ask us to go to Kathmandu to meet him. Where can we find him?" he asked.
Waiba is a long-time associate of Bomjon. He has been in touch with Bomjon when the latter was in Halkhoriya jungle of Bara. He remained in the committee to protect Bomjon.
Waiba was known as a tourism entrepreneur before that. A former disciple has told Setopati that Waiba gave Bomjon mobile phones, bought SIM cards and outside information. "He was Bomjon's right-hand man. He is still active in Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangh," the disciple revealed.
Hasta Bahadur Ale Magar's son Suresh was a teacher at a private school in the village before going to Bomjon's ashram. "Suresh gradually started to go to see Bomjon meditate. He had already decided to stay in Bomjon's ashram when we reached the ashram in Halkhoriya," Magar reminisced.
He said Suresh used to come home from time to time earlier and ask the parents to move to the ashram instead of remaining at home. Suresh even took his mother to visit the ashrams in Sindhupalchowk and Sindhuli districts, and to the puja in Lumbini.
"He used to call us frequently from the ashram earlier. He also used to call his friends," Magar said. "But he has not phoned or contacted us in three years after leaving with Waiba. We don't know where and with whom he is."
