FAISALABAD, June 18: At first, in her desperate calls home to her mother in Pakistan, Natasha Masih couldn’t bring herself to say what they were doing to her.

On August 15, Republica carried a news report about inter-caste marriage and conflict. A neighbor from Charambi village of Arun Rural Municipality had gone to the district headquarters of Bhojpur to file complaint after they were severely beaten up by the family of Sushmita Rai who was married to Nishan Nepali. The Rai family and relatives had indiscriminately beaten up several Dalit families and had taken back the bride home the same day of the wedding.

RUKUM, April 29: A large number of people of Jaidhune ward no 7 of Sanibheri Rural Municipality were busy showering their blessings to a young couple who were about to tie the knot a few days ago. However, the couple's red letter day could not be as special as expected. Soon, the smiling faces started shedding tears.

KATHMANDU, March 9: A newly married woman here was forced out of her home on the charge of practising witchcraft.

When it comes to weddings, there are a few things guests may have come to expect from the big day.

BEIRUT, Nov 22: For the first few weeks of her job recycling garbage, Haela Kalawi often went home crying.It wasn't just the grungy setting — a dimly lit, airless basement where the 31-year-old refugee with a cherubic face slips on plastic gloves and digs into trash-filled containers. It was that as a traditional housewife in Syria, Kalawi grew up believing it was shameful for women to work outside the house. In those days, she wasn't even allowed to shop for her own clothes or choose what to watch on TV.