Around 30 percent of childbirths in the Karnali Province in the fiscal year 2017-18 involved teen mothers, according to a data of the Ministry of Social Development.  

Out of 44,682 women who became mothers in the last fiscal year, 13,637 were under the age of 20. Rukum (West) had the most number of teen mothers (2,724) followed by Surkhet (2,722) and Salyan (2, 157). 

The ministry also recorded high maternal mortality rate in the districts of Kalikot, Dailekh, Rukum (West) and Surkhet. 

Om Prakash Joshi, public health officer at the ministry, said underage pregnancy has posed a serious threat to women’s health in the province.

In the fiscal year 2016-17, 21 underage mothers had died of pregnancy related complications.

Although Nepal outlawed child marriage in 1963, it is still common in many rural areas of the province. 

Women’s rights groups say the government has not done enough to end child marriage.