Rautahat, Feb. 16 -- When Man Bahadur Tamang left his village in Gujara Municipality of Rautahat district for Russia late in 2023, he hoped overseas earnings would lift his family out of mounting debt.

Forty-five-year-old Tamang, a resident of Brahmatol in Gujara-2, had been running a poultry farm in his village before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The business, which started with loans amounting to nearly Rs1.5 million, failed to generate expected returns. Burdened by debt that later rose to around Rs2.5 million, he decided to seek work abroad.

According to Tamang's family, he travelled to Russia in November, hoping to earn enough to pay loans and secure a better future for his wife Shantu and their five-year-old daughter.

After reaching Ru...