Rajbiraj, Oct. 4 -- In 2015, when Dinesh Kumar Marik arrived in Rajbiraj, the district headquarters of Saptari, for higher studies, he struggled to find a room to rent. Landlords often asked his caste before agreeing to rent out rooms. Marik then began asking for a room to rent without revealing his caste. He finally secured one. "But within two months, the landlord found out that I was a Dom," Marik said.

The Dom are among Nepal's historically marginalised Dalit communities, traditionally associated with occupations such as basket-making, bamboo work, and handling the dead. They have long faced caste-based discrimination and social exclusion, particularly in the southern Tarai.

"The landlord did not let me stay even for another day," M...