Nepal Leaving school and getting married at the age of 16, Asha Charti Karki is one of more and more girls in Nepal to lose their future because of getting married too early.

Karki lied to his parents about going to school to escape with his lover and getting married at the age of 16. Not long after that, she discovered she was pregnant. "I'm only 16 years old, too young to be a mother. I lied to my parents and ran away but I really betrayed myself and my future," Karki said as he carried his two-year-old daughter.

Early pregnancy caused her to have a uterine prolapse and suffered much from it. "Everything is very difficult. I often look at my friends and wonder what I would have been like if I hadn't married," the young mother said.

Karki is one of many young girls in Nepal who quit school and got married. The world's top marriage rate makes the government issue a ban on marriage under the age of 20 decades ago. According to the 2016 demographic health survey, Nepal had about 50% of women aged 25-49 married at the age of 18.

In a conservative country like Nepal, marriage is often arranged by parents, many of whom force their children to marry for reasons of culture or poverty. Despite the declining rate of arranged marriages, many child rights activists have warned of an increase in "voluntary child marriage" in Nepal, when many couples choose to marry even underage.

A survey by the non-governmental anti-marriage organization "Girls Not Brides" in Nepal found that one-third of voluntary marriages are child marriage and this trend is increasing.

"This trend is challenging for us and the government. We can convince parents, but it's hard to discourage many young couples when they voluntarily get married," said Anand Tamang of Girls Not Brides. "in Nepal said.

According to Tamang, like forced marriages, voluntary marriage also leads to risks such as dropping out of school, domestic violence and health problems. Many girls lose support from their families when fleeing and marrying lovers.

Despite introducing measures such as imprisonment or fines for offenders to end child marriage by 2030, the Nepalese government recognizes the plan will only succeed if it addresses the root of the problem.

Many young girls in Nepal flee with their lovers to avoid being forced by their families to marry others or run away from poverty and housework. When adolescent love is unacceptable in many rural areas of Nepal, couples often flee and get married to legitimize their relationship. Many other couples get married because of pregnancy.

"Voluntary child marriage" is rarely reported to local authorities, except for families seeking to oppose a non-class marriage.

"It is important to educate. They must understand that having sex does not mean getting married," said Krishna Prasad Bhusal, Deputy Minister of Women, Children and Elderly Nepal.

Karki hopes to be able to help many young Nepalese girls by sharing his story in the "Sister Education" program run by the British charity VSO. "I want many girls to learn from their mistakes and they don't necessarily have to get married when they're too young," Karki said.

She successfully persuaded 17-year-old Aradhana Nepal to abandon her abusive husband and return to school. Nepal was only 13 years old when she decided to run away with her boyfriend, which she barely knew. There were rumors about them and she didn't know what to do to protect her reputation.

After she got married, she realized her young husband was addicted and violent. She was beaten for months before fleeing. "It was a mistake and getting out of marriage was how I saved myself," she recalls.