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The family of Bipin Joshi, a student, had campaigned internationally for his release and had held out hope until the end that after two years in Gaza, he would return alive.
By Binod Ghimire and Pranav Baskar
Reporting from Kathmandu, Nepal, and New York.
Oct. 21, 2025, 4:08 p.m. ET
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.”
