‘Came here with hope’ and ‘died unseen’: tearful crowd says goodbye to homeless man Bikram Lama

The crowd gathered at dusk under the fig tree canopy of Sydney’s Hyde Park to say goodbye to Bikram Lama, holding electric candles in blue, red, white and purple. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

No one should be left to die in the middle of Sydney, alone and unseen.

That was the powerful message delivered by homelessness support worker Erin Longbottom to a crowd gathered in Hyde Park to honour Bikram Lama.