Gorgeous 18-year-old vegetable seller goes viral after she was spotted in a market

A pretty Nepali vegetable seller has become an online sensation after photos of her went viral online.

Kusum Shrestha, 18, was photographed carrying crates of tomatoes at a local market.

Miss Shrestha hails from a farming family in Bagling, Gorkha, some 55 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu.

She is studying management and was helping her parents during the holidays when the pictures were
taken at the Fishling suspension bridge between Gorkha and Chitwan.

The 18-year-old told BBC Nepali she learnt of her new-found fame from a friend.

She told the broadcaster:

'My friend asked me if I am the same girl whose photos became viral on Facebook but I didn't know.
'Then she sent me the pictures and when I saw them, I found it was me. On that day, I came to sell the vegetables to help my parents. When I was on my way to sell the vegetables, RupChandra [the photographer] took my picture - but at that point of time, I didn't know that I was being photographed.' 

Her father Narayan Shrestha, 43, told Nepalese news site myrepublica.com:

"I hear that her photos have become popular on the internet. Who had imagined that she would get such publicity? My daughter has always been a shy girl; she is a girl of very few words."

Mr Shrestha said his daughter was studying management, although she really wants to train as a nurse because he couldn't afford the fees.

"She is my only child. I should educate her to the extent possible," [sic] he said. "But I also have to consider my financial situation. I could not admit her into a nursing college though she wanted to study nursing."

Miss Shrestha said she was thrilled by the publicity and would jump at the chance to go into modelling.