Naramaya came from Kpoche, a small village south east of the Jiri Valley, in eastern Nepal (Kopche village is part of the Chuchure Village Development Committee, Ward Number 7 of Ramechhap District). She was 35 years old, married with two children and due to give birth to a third child. Her labour pains started early one morning in January 1996, and her husband summoned the local Suduni (midwives). However it appeared the birth was a breach. At around 10am, when the Suduni could not deliver the baby, local folk advised Naramaya's husband to take her to the healthpost in Thhose. This involved a two-hour steep climb by foot. Her husband carried her on his back in a Doko (a big basket made of straw). When he arrived at Thhose healthpost with his two children, he found the clinic closed and no one was there except a 'peon' (piun), a term used for the person who does menial tasks. The individual in charge of the healthpost was out of town.
By noon, the labour pains had intensified and immediate surgery was needed. Naramaya's husband was advised to go to the Jiri hospital and again she was carried in a Doko. They arrived there at about 4pm only to find the facility closed and no staff available. Desperate and tired, he was advised to take his wife to Kathmandu. With no bus service (two or three buses leave each day in the morning), with no taxi or other transportation, it would take him a few weeks to get to Kathmandu on foot. He went to the authorities to beg for help, pledging to sell his land to pay the cost of transporting his wife to Kathmandu. Unheeded, she died along with the unborn child at around 4.30am the next morning. Such incidents are not uncommon in Jiri and other other rural areas of Nepal.
