In 2017 Maliha was 17 years old, and also resident in the Shadow Girls’ Hostel, Aliabad. She was studying at a private school because she found that teachers were not reliable at the public school she used to attend. Maliha’s father is a farmer and she has 6 younger siblings, all in school. Her father has no cash income because the newly created Hunza lake closed the road which enabled potato export. He could sell a yak, which is worth a lot of money, but he only has two or three. So the scholarship is very useful. She was keen to be a lawyer, as they earn a lot of money, but she wasn't quite sure what lawyers do.