Kathmandu, Dec. 7 -- A rift in the National Human Rights Commission has deepened to the point that one member has threatened to resign if the commission's secretary continues to overstep his authority.

Lily Thapa, the commission's only woman member, has long complained that Secretary Murari Kharel, the head of the commission's bureaucracy, has been obstructing her initiatives.

The deep-seated resentment erupted on Friday after Kharel opposed her proposal to conduct a study on child marriage and the right age for marriage.

"The study on child marriage is just one of several plans the secretary has been blocking. On Friday, Thapa threatened to resign and expose Kharel to the media if his interventionist attitude does not change," a senio...