File Photo: Ramdevi Dhami, 50, sits outside a Chhaugoth (menstrual hut) as she is on her period at Saakakheta in Bbajhang district. (Photo taken in November 2017) KESHAV THAPA 
 
 Jan 8, 2018-A 22-year-old woman who was banished to a hut nearby her house in Achham following the monthly period was found dead last night. 
 
 She is Gauri Budha, spouse of Birendra Budha of Bhairavsthan of Turmakhand Rural Municipality-3. 
 
 Her family went into the hut to check her as she did not wake up until late in the morning. She was the 11th grader at the local Kalikeshwori Higher Secondary School. 
 
 "She worked whole day in a farm on Sunday and seemed normal. She had no complains of any uneasiness," said her father-in-law Dambar Bahadur Budha. Her husband is with the Nepal Police and the family is waiting for his arrival to perform the last rites. 
 
 Though, the practice of Chhaupadi (a custom that sends women to isolation during the monthly period) is banned by law in Nepal, women continue to fall prey to this deeply rooted ill tradition. 
 
 It may be noted that the Women and Children Office, with the support of the Save the Children, declared Bhairabsthan chhaupadi-free zone two years ago. 
 
 Last year, Dambara Upadhyay of Timalsena and Roshani Tiruwa of Gajra had been found dead in the menstruation huts in this district in the far-western Nepal. 
 
 Chhaupadi was illegal in Nepal since 2005 while it was criminalsed in the Civil Code earlier this year. RSS 
 
 Published: 08-01-2018 20:46 ||||| A 23-year-old woman in Nepal was on Tuesday found dead at an isolated hut where she was left alone as part of a long-banned ancient Hindu practice that banishes women from the home during menstruation, a media report said.Many communities in Nepal view menstruating women as impure and in some remote areas they are forced to sleep in a hut away from home during their periods, a custom known as "Chhaupadi".Police said that Gauri Bayak (Budha) was found dead by her neighbours inside the Chhaupadi hut (menstruation hut) yesterday at Turmakhad Rural Municipality-3 in Achham district, The Kathmandu Post reported."The cause of her death will be known after post-mortem," Deputy Superintendent of Police Dadhiram Neupane said.Villagers suspect that Gauri might have died of smoke suffocation from the fire she had lit to keep herself warm inside the hut."Gauri had lit a fire inside the hut. She might have died in her sleep due to smoke inhalation," said Ujir Bayak, a villager.The government in August last year declared the practice as a criminal offence and introduced a law that stipulated a three-month jail sentence and/or Rs 3,000 fine against those convicted of "Chhaupadi" crime. Despite the law and campaigns, the tradition is stillrampant in some remote parts of the country.Last year, a 21-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl had died in similar circumstances. ||||| AFP/Kathmandu 
 
 An 18-year-old girl has died in Nepal after she was bitten by a snake while banished to a shed because she was menstruating, part of a long-banned ancient Hindu practice, officials said yesterday. 
 
 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 during their periods, a practice known as chhaupadi. 
 
 Tulasi Shahi was bitten twice by a venomous snake and died on Friday morning in western Dailekh district, local mayor Surya Bahadur Shahi said. 
 
 “She survived for seven hours after the snake bite but died because medical treatment was delayed,” said Shahi. 
 
 According to local media, her family took her to the village shaman, or witch doctor, for treatment instead of taking her to a hospital. 
 
 Local police confirmed that a girl had died but were unable to provide further details on the cause. 
 
 Chhaupadi is linked to Hinduism and considers women untouchable when they menstruate, as well as after child birth. 
 
 They are banished from the home - barred from touching food, religious icons, cattle and men - and forced to sleep in basic huts known as chhau goth. 
 
 Two women died in late 2016 in separate incidents while following the ritual - one of smoke inhalation after she lit a fire for warmth, while the other death was unexplained. 
 
 Rights activists say many other deaths likely go unreported. 
 
 Chhaupadi was banned a decade ago but is still followed in parts of Nepal, particularly in remote western districts. 
 
 Proposed legislation that would criminalise the practice and make it an imprisonable offence to force women to follow the ritual is currently pending in parliament. 
 
 Some communities believe they will suffer misfortune such as a natural disaster if women and girls are not sent into isolation when they menstruate. They are also not permitted to drink milk and are given less food to eat during their period. 
 
 Activists say the government’s response to stamp out practices such as the Chhaupadi system and child marriage in the Himalayan nation has been inadequate. But officials say they are battling age-old attitudes that cannot be changed overnight. 
 
 “We have launched different schemes but quickly removing practices that are deep-rooted in the society is difficult,” said Binita Bhattarai, an official from the women and child 
 
 welfare ministry. 
 
 “Changing mindsets and social attitudes is a time-taking process.”
– A 22-year-old woman was found dead this week in Nepal after being sent to a so-called menstruation hut by her family to wait out her period, the Kathmandu Post reports. Gauri Budha's family found her body after going to the hut to check on her. Her father-in-law says she had spent Sunday working on a farm "and seemed normal." He says "she had no complaints of any uneasiness." According to News18, the cause of death is not yet known, but villagers speculate Budha, a student, may have died from smoke inhalation after starting a fire in the menstruation hut to keep warm. The practice of Chhaupadi, in which women are sent into isolation during menstruation, has been illegal in Nepal since 2005, and the Himalayan Times reports it was made a criminal offense in August. The district where Budha lived was declared a "Chhaupadi-free zone" two years ago. However, the practice still persists. Two other women from Budha's district were found dead in menstruation huts last year. (An 18-year-old Nepali woman banished during her period last July died from a snake bite.)