n this mountainous country bordered by India and China, doctors are considered to be godlike.

That makes the fall of Dr. Shiva Lal Acharya, who left a farming village to attend Nepal's most prestigious medical school and then moved to Chicago for a residency program, even more shocking for his friends and family.

On Dec. 13, Dr. Acharya died after hanging himself in the Allegheny County Jail. He had been in custody since September, when he was charged with hitting and killing a motorcyclist on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and then running from the scene of the crash.

"I rued his wrong decision-making," said Dr. Ranjan Sapkota, a friend and classmate of Dr. Acharya who lives in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. "As a doctor, he should have guarded the dead body."

Both in Nepal and in the U.S., those who knew the 33-year-old Dr. Acharya described him as a brilliant student who came from humble roots to excel in his studies and his career.

But his path was filled with obstacles: bipolar disorder, alcohol abuse and a failed marriage.

"His message was that he had to struggle at every step in his life," said James Joshi, an associate professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, who visited Dr. Acharya at the jail.

Dr. Acharya grew up in the village of Padampur, a dusty backwater in Nepal's southern plains, about a five-hour drive from Kathmandu. His family farmed rice, corn and other vegetables and lived in a cramped house with a tin roof.

In primary school, Dr. Acharya finished fourth in his class. In hopes of spurring him to greater success, his older brother, Krishna Acharya, promised to buy him a wristwatch if he could get top grades in secondary school.....

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