> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# A Jaffna Family Built a Life in Australia. Now All Four Are Missing in Nepal
- URL: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/featured/a-jaffna-family-built-a-life-in-australia-now-all-four-are-missing-in-nepal/
- Published: 2026-08-29T07:27:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-29T14:33:19.000Z
- Author: Our Reporter
- Tags: August 2026

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A Sri Lankan Tamil couple who migrated from Jaffna to Australia and their two young sons have gone missing in flood-stricken Nepal, leaving relatives in Sri Lanka and Australia anxiously awaiting news of their whereabouts.

Chandrasekaran Muralitharan, 47, a native of Kopay in Jaffna, his wife, Shylaja Muralitharan, 42, and their sons, Ashwin, 14, and Aarush, 11, disappeared while travelling in Nepal. All four hold Australian passports.

Mr. Muralitharan and his wife are first-generation Sri Lankan Tamil migrants to Australia, while their children are part of the second generation of the Australian Tamil diaspora.

The family, who live in northwestern Sydney, were travelling with Himalayan Glacier Adventures as part of a pilgrimage group. Fifteen Australians travelling with the company were among those reported missing after the floods.

According to an appeal circulated by relatives, the Muralitharans were last known to be at Hotel Kailash on the Pasang Lhamu Highway in Thuman, Nepal, close to the border with Tibet.

The family was last heard from on the morning of Aug. 26\. Shylaja’s sister, Vaishnavi, said the family had been preparing to eat breakfast before going to the border to clear immigration. Attempts to reach them afterward were unsuccessful.

Their disappearance has prompted relatives and friends to appeal for information as rescue teams struggle to reach areas where roads, bridges, electricity and communications were destroyed.

News that an entire family with roots in Kopay is among the missing has also travelled quickly through Jaffna and the Tamil community in Australia.

As of Saturday, 41 Australians remained unaccounted for.

The floods struck the mountainous Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday after a massive section of glacier, rock and ice collapsed high in the Himalayas, sending a surge of water and debris through river valleys below. The torrent destroyed roads, bridges and settlements and travelled far downstream through Nepal.

By Saturday, the death toll had risen above 600 across the affected region, with thousands still reported missing as rescue operations continued. Scientists are still examining the precise chain of events that caused the disaster.