NEPAL – A 15-year-old girl has died after being banished to a shed because she was\u00a0menstruating, under a now-banned ancient Hindu practice.<\/p>\n
The girl from Nepal is believed to have died from suffocation caused by smoke inhalation after lighting a fire to keep herself warm, police said.<\/p>\n
Some Hindus view women as impure and in parts of Nepal they are forced to remain in huts or cowsheds for days \u2013 in a practice known as\u00a0chhaupadi.<\/p>\n
The social tradition, which is particular to western parts of Nepal,\u00a0was outlawed in 2005, however, the Human Rights Commission has been critical saying local leaders must do more to enforce the ban.<\/p>\n
Mohna Ansari, from the commission, said: \u2018We have a legal ban but the law enforcement forces have not been strong about implementing it.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is crucial for us to work to change the attitudes of the people and raise awareness against this practice.\u2019<\/p>\n
Thousands of women and girls are banished to separate sheds, and have to follow rules about who they can talk to, where they can go and who they can touch, for those five days a month.<\/p>\n
Followers of Chhaupadi, which springs from an interpretation of Hinduism, believe that women who disobey the rules can cause destruction and death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n