A 16-year-old girl from Nepal died as a result of an illegal practice called chhaupadi, in which menstruating women are forced to stay in huts outside their homes, News.ro reported, citing The Guardian.

Anita Chand, from the Baitadi district in the west of the country, on the border with India, died on Wednesday after being bitten by a snake while she was sleeping. Her death was the first reported death from chowpadi in 2019.

Chhaupadi is based on the age-old belief that women and girls are impure and should not be touched during menstruation. They are prohibited from engaging in a number of activities, and in some cases are sent to “menstruation huts” for a time. This practice, associated with Hinduism, is deeply rooted in western Nepal.

Chhaupadi, outlawed in 2005, is punishable by up to three months in prison and a fine of 3,000 Nepalese rupees (£20).

Baitadi district police said they are investigating Anita’s death. Her family denied that she was on her period when she died.

“We are making efforts to end this practice, but (we) still have a lot to do,” said Bina Bhatta, vice president of Pancheswar Baitadi Village Municipality.

Thousands of houses were destroyed, but it seems that they are starting to be rebuilt

The last recorded death from chaupadi was in 2019. 21-year-old Parvati Budha Rawat died after spending three nights in an open-air hut. Her death was the fifth case registered that year.

Women and girls died from animal attacks and smoke inhalation after lighting fires in windowless huts.

Rawat’s son-in-law was sentenced to three months in prison, and her death prompted nationwide programs and campaigns to end the practice. Thousands of houses were destroyed, but it seems that they are starting to be rebuilt.

“After Parvati’s death, we destroyed more than 7,000 huts in the area,” said Pashupati Kunwar, who has been campaigning against chaupadi for 25 years. “People got information about menstruation and the law. Suddenly, Covid came and all the attention was focused on Covid. Then people started to rebuild houses or lived in barns. After Covid, there were no more Chhaupadi programs and campaigns. They almost stopped talking about it,” says the activist.

Rada Paudel, founder of the Global South Coalition for Dignified Menstruation, said Nepal’s government must do more than hand out free sanitary napkins to schoolgirls, a service introduced in 2019. In addition, there are policies, but the government itself does not implement them, she accused.