Family members and relatives of journalist Maheswor Pahari have blamed the government’s apathy for his death. 32-year-old Pahari breathed his last in detention Tuesday night.

Associated with the Pokhara-based ‘Rastriya Swabhiman’ (National Pride) weekly, Pahari was picked up by security forces in January 2004 from Lwangghale of Kaski district. He was kept in undisclosed location for long time.

Earlier, Pahari was detained in 2002 and released a few months later. No reasons were given but reports said authorities suspected him to be sympathetic to underground CPN (Maoist).

Pahari was being detained at the district prison of Kaski in western region. A number of rights groups including ICRC had urged the government to provide him treatment. It was only after he became serious that he was admitted at the Western Regional hospital at Pokhara last week. Doctors advised him to take to Kathmandu `as his health condition was critical’ but the authorities refused to grant permission citing ‘security reasons.’

Pahari was suffering from tuberculosis for quite long. His family members said he had suffered from typhoid in the past. Local administration claimed that Pahari was a HIV-positive but doctors attending him said blood test had not been carried out on Pahari and that there was no evidence to prove that he was a HIV-positive.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) said it was a matter of shame that the state prevented proper treatment to a detained journalist leading to his death. The Federation has demanded a probe into the incident and compensation from the state to the families of Pahari.

A Paris-based press freedom watchdog, Reporters’ Without Borders (RSF), has said the responsibility for the death of Pahari goes clearly to the royal government. RSF said Pahari was detained secretly for months, tortured and then transferred to a crowded prison later. He is the latest victim of Nepal’s security forces, it said.

The RSF has also called upon chief of UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights mission in Kathmandu, Ian martin, to investigate into the issue and identify those who are responsible for Pahari’s death.

Pahari is survived by his wife Durga and two sons—ten-year-old Prajwol and five-year- old Prasan.