Child, 8, with mental illness chained in goat shed for five years

Family too poor to afford care. Local rights activists urge the state to rescue the child.

An eight-year-old girl from ward 5 in Madhuwan Municipality, Bardiya, has spent the last five years of her life tethered to a stake inside a goat shed. The child, who suffers from severe mental health challenges, remains confined during daylight hours because her family can neither afford medical treatment nor provide constant supervision.