Nepal, Oct. 5 -- Ajita Khadka was nine-years-old at the time, and after helping her mother do the dishes remembers getting out of the house to go over to a neighbour to ask for a flowering plant for the family garden.

It was a bright clear afternoon on 6 September 2003 in Jyamire village of Sindhupalchok, the monsoon was taking a break, and Ajita remembers thinking how beautiful the flower would look on their porch.

Over on the other side of the village at the Janata School, Ajita's father, the journalist and teacher Gyanendra Khadka, 32 at the time, had finished addressing a group of parents and guardians. Suddenly, two men in shorts sprang up, and wielding pistols and hand grenades, grabbed him roughly, and led him away.

Gyanendra K...