Rajbiraj, July 5 -- On April 15, a village in Saptari was alive with festive activity as the Siruwa festival got underway. Families prepared celebratory meals, sweet dishes simmered on stoves, and neighbours exchanged greetings.

Ramwati Devi Ram had returned early from Lahan, where she had participated in the Ashtayam ritual the night before, eager to join the day's celebrations. But her excitement turned to fear when she discovered that her 18-year-old daughter, Pooja Kumari Ram, was missing from her bed. As panic set in, she searched the neighbourhood, gripped by the memory of her daughter's traumatic escape from an attempted rape three years earlier.

While searching, Ramwati Devi found Pooja's body covered with dry leaves about a kil...