Summary:
A 28-year-old woman named Kamala Aauji Damai from Krishnapur Municipality, Kanchanpur district, died after being bitten by a snake while staying in a menstrual shed (chhaugoth). She was bitten Friday night and taken to Seti Provincial Hospital in Dhangadhi but died the following evening.

The incident highlights the ongoing practice of chhaupadi in far-western Nepal’s Sudurpaschim Province, where menstruating women are forced to live separately in sheds or huts due to social stigma and superstition, despite it being illegal since 2017. The law criminalizes this practice with penalties, but enforcement is weak.

Local authorities have tried to dismantle these huts, demolishing about 60 last year, but people continue to rebuild them. Awareness campaigns alone have not been enough to stop this harmful tradition. In this case, despite living in a concrete house, the woman built a separate shed for menstruation and went there alone when the snakebite occurred.

Archive: https://archive.md/gLiwU