Kathmandu, May 22 -- Editor's note: This article contains sensitive descriptions of sexual violence and medico-legal examinations that some readers may find distressing.

She was pushed to the brink - nearly taking her own life - after police refused to register a complaint in a sexual assault case.

Kathmandu District Court case number 080-C1-3663. A 56-year-old senior government official had employed a 24-year-old woman as a "part-time" domestic help. She tried to file a complaint alleging that he had committed sexual violence against her.

She went from one police station to another-first Gaushala, then Kalimati, then, as suggested by Kalimati police, to Teku, then back again to Gaushala and Kalimati. When it was still not registered, ...