BAJURA, AUGUST 13

Fifty-five-year-old Jaludevi Budha, who had been living in a cave for the past five years, along with her six-year-old son, in Lugena of Chhededaha Rural Municipality, Bajura, was rescued.

Tipped off by locals, they were rescued by personnel from Kanda Police Post yesterday. They are now in Kanda Health Post.

According to doctors, both the mother and the son are malnourished.

A resident of Bajhang, Jaludevi was married to Bhane Budha as his second wife after he couldn't beget a son from his first wife.

She has three sons. While the eldest aged 18 is in India for employment, her second son, 12, stays with his father. Her youngest son, Min, 6, was staying with her in the cave.

As learnt, Jaludevi was making do with the floury mush she prepared out of flour she fetched from a water mill in the cave. Besides, she also lacked clothes, utensils and other requirements in the cave.

According to her husband, she turned down his frequent requests to go home. 'Apparently, we had quarrels sometimes, between me and her and also between her and my first wife, but she made an issue and left home,' said the husband.

'As the two women couldn't get along, I built a separate house but to no avail. Unfortunately, she burnt her house and went to live in the wilderness,' said the husband, adding attempts to return her home had also become difficult due to her below-normal mental status.

Meanwhile, Khaptad Chhededaha Rural Municipality has said it will take responsibility of the safety of the woman and her child. 'Though the locals are ready to help her with food, she is unwilling to play ball, seemingly out of fear that the food would be poisoned,' said ward Chair Bir Bahadur Rawal.

A version of this article appears in the print on August 14, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.