KATHMANDU: On Sunday, police said that a Nepali woman has died of suspected smoke inhalation while banished to a hut during her period. The incident comes just weeks after the deaths of a mother and two children in similar circumstances which sparked outrage.
Many communities in Nepal view menstruating women as impure and in some remote areas they are forced to sleep in a hut away from the home, following a centuries-old tradition known as "chhaupadi".
On Thursday morning, Parbati Bogati, 21, was found dead in a smoke-filled hut in the western Doti district when her mother-in-law went to check on her. "We suspect she died due to smoke inhalation and suffocation because she closed the door of the windowless hut and lit a fire on the floor for warmth during the night", local police officer Lal Bahadur Dhami said. He also said that the body has been sent for autopsy.
The practice which is linked to Hinduism, considers women untouchable during menstruation and after childbirth. Under Chhaupadi, women are barred from touching food, religious icons, cattle and men.
Just three weeks ago a mother and her two sons in neighbouring Bajura district died of suspected smoke inhalation while observing the tradition. Their deaths had prompted the locals to demolish ‘chhaupadi’ sheds in their village. The local authorities had also warned that services would be denied to anyone forcing their daughters and daughters-in-law to follow the banned practice.