Nepal: When Amba Bohara's period came this week, she followed a familiar routine in western Nepal. Considered impure in her village because she was menstruating, Ms. Bohara barricaded herself in a tiny hut, built a fire and braced for an icy winter night with her two young children.
By Wednesday morning, all three were dead. The woman had lit a fire to keep her and her two young sons warm in bitter winter temperatures.
All three are suspected to have died in their sleep due to smoke inhalation.
The traditional practice of exiling menstruating women from the family home is banned in Nepal but it is still widely practiced in rural areas.
This case is not the first tragedy to have occurred when women have been sent to sleep in the huts – a practice, known as chhaupadi that was criminalized in 2017. There have been several cases of suffocation and at least one teenage girl has died after being bitten by a snake.
Under the ancient practice, linked to Hinduism, a woman who have their periods or who have just given birth are seen as impure or as bringers of bad luck and can be forced to sleep in huts or cattle sheds.
'Why I fought having my periods in a mud hut'
They are banned from touching cattle and men, denied access to some foods and can be barred from toilet and washing facilities in the house, forcing them to walk long distances from their villages.
They can also be exposed to extreme cold in the winter and criminal attacks, and young women cannot go to school.
The latest tragedy occurred in far-western Nepal's Bajura district. District chief administrator Chetaraj Baral said an autopsy has been carried out but authorities are yet to receive confirmation of the cause of the deaths.
Blankets in the hut were partially burned and the mother was found with burns to her legs. The children were aged 12 and nine. 'The bodies have been handed over to the family for their last rites.'
Under Nepali law, anyone who makes a woman observes chhaupadi faces a three-month jail sentence and a $27 (£21) fine. Activists have called for the law to be more stringently enforced.
