Dhanusha, Sept. 29 -- Until a year ago, 30-year-old Pano Sada of Bateshwor Rural Municipality in Dhanusha would run for cover at the faintest sound of a whistle. In her Musahar settlement, a cluster of mud houses with thatched roofs standing beside the road, the whistle meant danger. It meant that officials from the Nepal Electricity Authority were nearby, making surprise visits to catch people stealing electricity.

When the warning came, Sada would dash into her two-room home, quickly unhooking the wire that ran from the nearest electric pole into her home. For a few minutes, her heart would pound until the danger passed. Then relief followed, when she was not caught.

But not every day ended in relief. "Sometimes, we were caught, and t...