Though there was a health post in the neighbourhood, his neighbours refused to carry him there.

Villagers said Upadhay's two married daughters, daughters-in-law and grandchildren also did not go to his help for fear of contracting leprosy.

Nepal remains one of the four countries in the world after Congo, Mozambique and Brazil where leprosy has still not been eradicated.

Though the incidence has come down from four people in every 10,000 to almost half of that, the districts in Nepal's Terai plains, adjoining India, still remain the worst affected by leprosy.