A 16-year-old girl from Nepal died as a result of the practice of his local tradition “Chhaupadi”where women during the menstruation are forced to stay in huts away from their homes.

Anita Sand from Baitadi province, in the western part of the country, on the border with India, reportedly died yesterday, Wednesday, of a snake bite while she was sleeping. Her death is the first reported death from the Chowpadi practice since 2019, and activists fear progress to eradicate the practice is faltering.

Chaupadi is based on the age-old belief that women and girls are sacred and should not be touched during menstruation. They are not allowed to do a number of activities and in some cases are forced to stay in ‘menstruation huts’ for the duration. The tradition, which has ties to Hinduism, is deeply rooted in western Nepal.

The practice of Chaupadi, outlawed in 2005, is punishable by up to 3 months in prison and a fine of 3,000 Nepalese rupees (about 23 euros). Baitadi provincial police said they were investigating Anita’s death. Her family denied she was menstruating when she died.

“We are working to end this practice, but (we have) a lot to do,” said Bina Bata, deputy mayor of Panchesuar rural municipality in Baitadi.

The last death reported from Chowpadi was in 2019.

21-year-old Parvati Budha Rawat was the latest victim of this practice till Sant. In 2019, the girl died after spending three nights in a hut. Her death was the fifth that year from the practice. Women and girls died from animal attacks and from smoke inhalation after fires were lit in windowless huts. Rawat’s brother-in-law was sentenced to three months in prison.

Her death spurred programs and campaigns across the country to end the practice. Thousands of huts were destroyed, but it seems that they are starting to be rebuilt.

“After Parvati’s death, we destroyed more than 7,000 ‘menstruation huts’ in the district,” said Pashupati Kunwar, who has been campaigning against Chaupadi for the past 25 years. He pointed out that people started to be informed about menstruation and about the legislation.

“Then suddenly Covid came and all the attention shifted to Covid. Then people started building ‘menstrual huts’ again or started living in shacks. There were no Chowpadi programs and campaigns after Covid. People almost stopped talking about it.”