NSW attorney general urged to order inquest into death of Sydney’s ‘birdman’

The New South Wales attorney general, Michael Daley, has been urged to order an inquest into the death of Nepali rough sleeper Bikram Lama in Hyde Park.

The death of Lama – who was also known as “the birdman” for his love of the area’s pigeons – has prompted widespread calls for change, after Guardian Australia revealed last week that the young migrant’s body lay unnoticed for up to a week in bushes near a busy thoroughfare into St James station.

Lama’s family say he came to Australia to study but he fell out of contact with them, and records show he was deemed a non-resident by the time of his death. The City of Sydney estimates about one in five rough sleepers in the inner-city are not Australian residents, who are typically unable to access key supports needed to get out of homelessness, including social housing, social security, healthcare and work rights.

The coroner is yet to determine whether an inquest into Lama’s death will be held but has sought contact with Lama’s family in Nepal.

The independent MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, wrote to Daley on Friday requesting that he use his powers to direct an inquest to be held into the death that examined potential policy failures.

“Like so many other people, I was just shocked and saddened by this,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking but this has to be a wake-up call for policymakers and the question that we have to be asking ourselves is: ‘did Bikram Lama die because of failures in state and federal policies?’”

“The attorney general has received correspondence in relation to this matter,” the spokesperson of Daley’s office said. “The coroner is awaiting a brief of evidence from NSW police. Once that is received, the court will review the matter and determine whether it will proceed to inquest as per usual processes.”