Many Nepalis swept away in the floods aren't officially dead, leaving families in limbo

At the Pashupatinath temple, on the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Madan Lal Lawat joined other families in honouring loved ones who were lost when a deadly flood tore through the China-Nepal border last month.

In Hindu tradition, when a body cannot be recovered, a symbolic effigy is made from sacred "kusha" grass to represent the dead, allowing relatives to perform last rites.

With more than 5,000 people still missing and the government ending rescue operations, this is the only way people like Lawat can honour the dead.

Five of his relatives - including his brother - were caught in the water's onslaught and are still missing. Lawat survived because he was driving his bus outside his village, Betrawati.

The last Lawat heard from survivors is that his brother Mangal died while going door-to-door, trying to warn others to leave.

"I don't know how to start over. Police say they're still searching for the bodies, but I'm not sure they'll ever be found," Lawat says.

But legally, their fate is far more complicated. In Nepal, a missing person is only presumed dead after 12 years.

Section 40 of Nepal's Civil Code does allow for some exceptions, but it does not have a provision for disasters like the flood witnessed last month.