When the truce was struck, the family thanked God. Briefly, there was hope that Bipin Joshi might finally come home.
On Monday evening, after two years held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, he did return — in a coffin delivered to his home in the verdant foothills of far western Nepal.
As millions lit candles in their homes to celebrate Tihar, Nepal’s festival of lights, few did so in his hometown, Mahendranagar. Dozens gathered to await his body. When it arrived, his family broke down in tears, still in disbelief that he had become caught in someone else’s war, thousands of miles away.
Mr. Joshi was 23 when he left Nepal for Israel as part of an agricultural study program. Less than three weeks into his time there, he was taken captive by Hamas from a southern Israeli kibbutz on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli officials.
After his abduction, his family heard almost nothing about his condition, but they never stopped waging a desperate campaign to remind the world of his existence and bring him home. They traveled to Israel and the United States in search of someone who might be able to help.
“Tihar is the festival of lights, but it will always be a reminder of darkness for us,” said Kishor Joshi, his cousin. “After two years of sleepless nights and struggle for his release, all we receive today is his lifeless body.”
The news of his death has shattered the family, who until the last moment held faith he was alive. In interviews with The New York Times hours after Hamas agreed earlier this month to release all hostages, and later, when Israel accepted the proposal, Pushpa Joshi, his 18-year-old-sister, said she was confident she would see her brother’s “smiling face” again.
The Israeli government had expressed concern about his life; when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the United Nations, read a list of the names of the remaining hostages believed to be alive, Mr. Joshi’s was not among them. In statements after his body was returned by Hamas, the Israeli military said it believed he had been killed in captivity early in the war, which could not be confirmed independently.
Nepal’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday evening that the government had tried to secure his release while he was in captivity.
On Tuesday morning, his body was cremated on the banks of the Mahakali River. Dozens of people from the neighborhood stayed with the Joshi family through the night leading up to the ceremony to share in their grief.
“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 wrote in a statement. “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.”
Before Mr. Joshi’s body was brought to his hometown, Prime Minister Sushila Karki draped Nepal’s flag over his coffin while paying tribute to him during a ceremony held at the airport in Kathmandu, the capital, in the presence of other high-level officials.
“We are heartbroken to see his lifeless body,” Ms. Karki said. “Even as Bipin is not with us, his courage and bravery are a matter of pride to every Nepali. He is a son of Nepal. He is the son of every mother. We will never forget him. He lives in our hearts.”
When she spoke with The New York Times in late September, Pushpa Joshi, Bipin’s sister, beamed when discussing her brother. She was in 10th grade when he was taken hostage, and in her campaign to bring him home, she has been working on her English.
She remembered little things — like the guitar he gave her and how he helped with her homework.
“Every second, I don’t see anything in front of my eyes except my brother,” she said then. “He will never go away from me.”
Binod Ghimire reported from Kathmandu, Nepal, and Pranav Baskar from New York.
Pranav Baskar is an international reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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