Shanta Chaudhary (Nepali: शान्ता चौधरी) is a social reformer and former member of Constituent Assembly of Nepal as a proportioanl representative from CPN (UML) party. Chaudhary was a forced child labourer as part of the, now abandoned, Kamalari system.
Biography
Chaudhary was forced to become a Kamlari when she was eight.[2] She was leased for Rs 7,000 a year by her parents who had nine other children. She was sent to work for a family in Dang.[3] During this time, she was forced to work for 19 hours a day, and she lived in the cowshed.[3] She was reprimanded for her mistakes and sometimes beaten by the landlord's wife.[3] Chaudhary remained as a servants until she was eighteen, during which time she became active in politics.[2] She represented Dang in a forum for the lands rights movement.[4]
In 2008, Chaudhary was chosen to lead the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Means.[2] Her illiteracy was a problem in the CA and she started taking classes.[2] Eventually, in 2013, she published a book, Kamlari Dekhi Sabhasad Samma, about her experiences.[3]
In 2016, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and is currently receiving treatment.[2]
