Bittersweet homecoming for Mainali

ILAM, JUN 03 -

Gobinda Mainali, who spent 15 years in prison in Japan after being wrongfully accused of murder, visited his birthplace in Ilam on Sunday.

Mainali was greeted by his friends and relatives at his home in Golakharka. His hometown has changed a lot since he left 20 years ago. A mixture of bittersweet emotion was visible on Mainali’s face when he arrived home.

The dirt track outside his house has transformed into a wide tarmac road; the once-vacant space and fields are occupied by new houses; neighbourhood children have grown; and many of the elderly folks have passed on. Mainali nearly choked up remembering his father, Jai Prasad, who died six years ago while he was in prison.

“It has been an overwhelming experience seeing my old friends and relatives,” he said. “I would often think and dream of my home, friends and family while I was in prison.”

Mainali’s homecoming excitement was equally shared and expressed by his friends and relatives gathered at his house. An old friend, Krishna Khati, said that he was convinced at one point that he would never see Mainali again. “I started thinking that he will return home one day after I learnt that efforts were on to prove his innocence and secure his release.”

The two friends embraced for a long time when they saw one another after a long time.  Mainali recounted his time spent in prison to his friends and relatives who had so far heard and learnt about him through newspapers and other media.

“It was very hard and distressing living in a small confined cell. They provided hot water every now and then for shower, apart from that there was no other facility,” Mainali recalled.

He suggested the youth population to try to invest their skill in the country and only visit foreign soil for employment through proper and legal way.

Mainali, who has been living in Kathmandu with his wife and two daughters, has no immediate plan of moving to Ilam. He said he wishes to remain in the Capital and fight for the rights and justice of migrant workers held prisoners overseas on false convictions.

Mainali was accused in 1997 murder of a Japanese woman and sentenced to life in October 2003. He was held in 2000 for visa overstay and later pressed with murder charge. He was released on June 12, 2012 after the Tokyo High Court exonerated him.

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