Achham, June 1 -- year-old girl from ward 4 of the remote Turmakhand Rural Municipality in Achham district, then a grade 6 student, married a 16-year-old boy studying in grade 7. Two years later, she became pregnant. Having dropped out of school due to early marriage, the young couple lacked physical, mental, and social maturity required for parenthood. As her pregnancy progressed, she was further burdened with domestic chores and agricultural labour, despite her fragile health.

Marrying well below the legal age of 20 and navigating pregnancy while still physically underdeveloped, she suffered from chronic malnutrition and a lack of access to basic care, and this all severely affected her unborn child.

When her expected delivery date pa...