Bishnumaya BK, an injured of the insurgency-era Bandarmude incident, said the victims were often haunted by the deadly blast as their plight remains the same.

No any person or organisation had helped the victims, she shared. A passenger bus was caught in an explosion triggered by Maoist combatants at Bandarmude in Madi, Chitwan, on June 6, 2005. Thirty-nine people were killed on the spot while three succumbed to their injuries later. Seventy-two others were injured, many maimed.

Bishnumaya said her youngest daughter, Susmita, was also injured in the explosion. “We haven’t got any help. My husband is mentally ill. We have expressed our plight many times but we never got justice,” said Bishnumaya.

The victims vented their ire in the programme organised by commissioners from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Friday. Many survivors said they were living with some kind of impairment and they require regular medication.

The TRC officials organised the programme to listen to the victims, who, however, said they could not express their views in front of UCPN (Maoist) activists.

After the victims refused to speak up in front of the Maoist supporters, TRC representatives had requested the attendants other than the victims to leave the venue.

Maoist supporters then left the programme and the victims started expressed their ordeals. Vice-chairman of the Bandarmude Blast Victims’ Struggle Committee Krishna Adhikari said they were saddened by the decision of the TRC members to make them speak in front of Maoists.

“We want justice first. Perpetrators of the blast should be punished,” said Adhikari, adding that the guilty were roaming about freely as the victims suffered.

Muktinath Neupane, chairman of the Bandarmude Blast Victims’ Struggle Committee, said the TRC team should reach the victims’ doorsteps to see their plight first-hand.

TRC Chairperson Surya Kiran Gurung said they had no idea how those other than the victims tried to attend the programme.