Achham, Nov. 28 -- Ritu was already having a difficult time looking after her four children on her own. Things only got worse when her husband returned home after seven years of working in India. He came back a changed man, getting drunk often and abusing Ritu and their children.

Ritu, who asked that she be identified by a pseudonym because she feared ostracisation by her community, quietly endured the abuse for four years-for the sake of the "family's prestige"-but her physical and mental health deteriorated.

When she started showing unusual behaviour, including muttering under her breath, her relatives took her to a faith-healer for treatment. When that didn't work, they took her to a doctor.

"When we took her to the doctors, they di...