KATHMANDU, Sept. 12 -- It was an era of the Maoist insurgency, and her village in Achham was not untouched. Minors were joining the rebel forces either willingly or by force. Saraswati Bista was 14. Her parents were worried about her safety. A relative brought a marriage proposal. She tied the knot at 15; with a man from Baitadi who used to work as a watchman in Delhi, India.

"He used to drink and argue a lot," Saraswati recalls. "After our son was born, he made our life miserable. One day, I left his place with my child. I should have never returned from Nepal," she said over the phone on Wednesday from Bangalore, India.

When Saraswati reached home along with her eight-month-old baby boy, her parents and brothers told her to think twic...