Kathmandu, April 24 -- On a weekday afternoon in Koteshwar, 11-year-old Aayan Bikram sits near the window of his family's flat, watching the street below. His cricket bat leans against the wall. His friends are somewhere outside, he can hear them but he is not allowed to join them. Not today. Not most days.

''When I see my friends playing outside carefreely, I wish my mother would allow me too,'' he said. ''Sometimes I wish she were not home.''

Aayan's mother, Kiran Kafle, has her reasons. A few months ago, her son was injured while playing outside and left alone with a wound on his head while the neighbours who were present did nothing. ''They left my kid all alone and told him to go away,'' she said. ''I don't like this society. They ...