Unnoticed Death of Nepali Student Sparks Debate on Australia’s Failing Safety Net

The Online Khabar reported that the death of 32-year-old Nepali student in a busy park in Sydney, Australia, went unnoticed for months. 

According to the news outlet, Bikram Lama, a young man from Makwanpur, traveled to Australia to study computer science. Later, he ended up living on the streets, sleeping in Sydney’s St James Tunnel, which runs beneath Hyde Park and is is used to cross Sydney’s central business district. The tunnel “is considered one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city for both locals and tourists,” the news outlet said. 

Authorities estimate that more than 1,00,000 Australians must have traveled past Lama’s body before it was discovered by city workers on December 7, 2025.

Lama was reportedly known as “The Birdman” for feeding pigeons in the tunnel where he stayed. The website also reported that, when his body was discovered, it had decomposed so severely that police were initially unable to identify him. They eventually did when Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted Mr.Lama’s mother for a DNA test.

May Mr. Lama rest in peace.

 

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Source: 

“Unnoticed death of Nepali student sparks debate on Australia’s failing safety net,” April 21, 2026