Bhairahawa, April 3 -- As evening fell at the Gautam Buddha International Airport on Wednesday, Pramila Kumari Ram from Siraha waited anxiously outside the arrival gate. For most, an aircraft landing represents a reunion or the start of a journey, but for Pramila, it was the grim end of a dream turned nightmare.

Pramila had travelled from ward 1 of Sukhipur Municipality with her father-in-law, maternal uncle and two young children to collect the body of her husband, Ramesh Kumar Ram (Mochi). Ramesh, who had migrated to Kuwait 21 months ago to secure a better future for his family, returned home-not with the gifts he had promised, but in a wooden casket.

"He (Ramesh) called me on the night of March 4. He was on a train returning from his...