Kathmandu, Jan. 24 -- For months last year, Mina waited for the Covid-19 induced lockdown to end with bated breath.

When the government finally eased months of lockdown in July, Mina, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was all set to run away from her home.

Mina had her own simple reason-she did not want to have the child she was carrying.

"Both of us were unemployed," said Mina, who had got married a few months before the country went into the lockdown. "What would we eat if we added another member to our family? But my husband told me that I could not throw his baby. We fought terribly over what to do with the baby in my womb. Running away was the only option I could see."

When Mina, an underage girl from Sindhuli,...