Chhaupadi is an ancient Hindu practice that has already been banned about 11 years ago. But a recent report has been filed by Nepal's local police officers claiming that a 15-year-old Nepalese girl died while in the process of the ancient practice.
Roshani Tiruwa, the Nepalese teen, was transferred to the "chhaupadi shed" because of a superstitious belief. In their region, one of their beliefs is that girls who are having their monthly period and women who have just given birth are impure. With that belief, it is crucial that these girls and women should be separated from the opposite sex. Roshani is already on her third day of menstruation when she was found dead.
According to the Roshani's father, the teen had her dinner about 6 p.m. before she went back inside the shed to rest. The next morning, he noticed that Roshani has not left her hut to collect some firewood. Because of it, he decided to call for her from the outside of her hut. "Then we saw her dead body," Roshani's father told My Republica.
"We are investigating the case," local district inspector Badri Prasad Dhakal said in an interview with AFP news agency. Dhakal also added that based on the evidence gathered from the scene, the Nepalese teen's death is caused by suffocation of the smoke from the fire she lit to warm herself during the night, Independent reported.
The Hindu practice, chhaupadi, has been banned for several reasons. One of the reasons is it can put women's life to risk. Once they are inside the hut, these females could be susceptible to disease, wild animals or even from people who have negative plans against them. They can be raped, hurt or even murdered. Women who decide to go against the tradition may be blamed for the misfortunes in the region.
