Let's say the story is as it is and there are no secrets to unfold then...Mala left because she was in an unhappy relationship (we know the kind of father Dilsher was and can guess the kind of husband he could have been, especially given his lameness, insecurity and Mala's beauty).
Let's say she fell in love with another man, who was charming and affectionate (as we saw Thakursa in the beginning).
So she decides to take her chances, have a happy and fulfilling life. Is that wrong...should a woman be in a stifling relationship just because society has ruled so...
Regarding the child, she did set her life in order and return for Rudra. What's better, a happy mother and a happy child, or an unhappy mother and a child who is nothing but a responsibility bearing her down?
Motherhood doesn't ordain that a woman can't follow her dreams. Mala is interesting because she tried to do justice to both - her duties as a mother, her dreams as a woman.
The tragedy is that she failed - because we are judging her with the yardstick which says, mother first, wife first, woman? Is there anything separate from those roles?