PALPA?Thirteen-year-old Harikala Thapa (pictured) was bitten by a hornet in Basantapur, Palpa. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have been rushed to hospital. But the Maoists were in her village and they said no one could leave for fear the army would find out they were there. The Maoists refused to let Harikala go to the hospital.

Instead they gave her an injection which made her pain worse, said one relative. Harikala finally died and the Maoists buried her near her house without a proper funeral. The rebels had surrounded Basantapur from 30 July to 2 August preparing for a major attack and had forced young villagers to go with them. Locals are worried if the army finds out they gave the rebels shelter their houses will be bombed.