From correspondents in Kathmandu, Nepal, 04:31 PM IST

At least two dozen Indian patients were robbed at knife-point in their hotel in southern Nepal, media reports said.

The victims, who had gone to Lahan town in Siraha district to seek eye treatment, were left penniless and without means to return home. The group, comprising around 25 people, had come from northern India to Nepal to seek treatment at the Sagarmatha Chaudhari Eye Hospital.

The 410-bed hospital, supported by Christian Blind Mission, is reputed to be one of the best eyecare centres in Asia.

A large number of Indians from across the border come to the hospital in Siraha district for affordable treatment every year.

On Wednesday, six people forced their way into a local hotel in Lahan, Tara, where the Indian group was staying, threatened them with knives and robbed them of nearly NRS. 40,000 (about $570), Nepal's local media said Saturday.

The group says it has no money to continue with their treatment or even go back home.

Some of the neighbouring hotels have been treating Indian visitors very shabbily, the Kantipur daily said, quoting a hospital employee.

According to it, a few other hotels had confiscated the bags and luggage of the Indian patients and forced them to live in tents in the open.

There was no immediate reaction to the report, either from the government of Nepal or the Indian embassy in Kathmandu.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)