When news of the Aug 26 Nepal glacial and flood disaster broke, Dr Manivannan Rethinam’s first thoughts went out to his sister Komathi who was on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.

Together with her husband, he tried but failed to reach her. She is among 54 Malaysians still listed as missing. No one knows if they are still alive, and that is the problem.

Since then, Manivannan, who heads the Malaysian Solidarity Families in Hope support group dealing with the authorities, has learned a brutal truth: there is no sympathy in bureaucracy or the law.

Without a death certificate, spouses and children have no access to joint bank accounts or the victim’s EPF savings. They cannot sell family homes nor cancel hire purchase contracts.