BUTWAL, March 9 -- Krishni Tharu, Deputy Speaker in Provincial Assembly of Province 5, elected to the position in 2017, is a former Kamlari, an indentured girl child labourer, from the Tharu community.

Born to a poor Tharu couple in Rajapur of Bardiya district 43 years ago, Krishni was only seven when she started working as a domestic helper, and was deprived of an education and of forming any familial bonds. As was the custom within her community, she was married to a Kamaiya (bonded labourer) when she turned 15. "I remember working from dusk till dawn for a pittance," she says. "I then got married and continued the same work alongside my husband. That was the only way of life we knew; we couldn't even imagine breaking the shackles of b...