Kathmandu, Feb. 26 -- As the election winds sway people in Jhapa, a disabled elderly woman from the eastern district remains unmoved. Benumaya Katuwal, 60, has no permanent home in the district's constituency-5, where former mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City and senior Rastriya Swatantra Party leader Balendra (Balen) Shah has challenged CPN-UML chair and former prime minister KP Sharma Oli in the March 5 polls.

Katuwal, a cooperative scam victim, lived for over a decade in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, on a body that never fully supported her. A neurological illness in childhood left her physically disabled and struggling with speech. Her body might have faltered, but not her determination.

She pushed herself through immense challenges to com...