Bhairahawa, Oct. 17 -- For 16 Musahar families in rural Rupandehi, this year's Dashain brought a long-awaited gift: legal ownership of the land they have lived on for years.

Families from Wards 8 and 9 of Gaidahawa Rural Municipality received land ownership certificates on Friday, ending a wait of more than four years. Some were working in other people's fields when the ceremony began, prompting ward representatives to bring them from their homes.

"I had to go to their homes, gather them up and bring them here in an auto-rickshaw," said Bhuwan Bahadur Rana, ward 8 chair of the rural municipality.

The delay left an unusual scene at the rural municipality office. Bishwaprakash Aryal, Rupandehi's chief district officer and chair of the di...