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A woman and her two children died in Nepal suffocated after being forced to sleep in a windowless cabin because of her period, the police said Thursday.
The family is the latest victim of "chhaupadi", an ancient Hindu custom forbidden in the country for more than a decade. This practice obliges women and girls in menstruation to leave their homes and look for dens or huts.
Amba Bohara, 35, and her 12-year-old and 9-year-old son lit a fire on Tuesday night to warm up the mud and stone hut where she was forced to house during her menses. The next morning, his wife's father-in-law found the three dead on the spot.
"They died of suffocation due to lack of ventilation and to cut the cold, the family made a camera with very little air circulation," police officer Uddhav Singh Bhat told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The old tradition fell into anarchy in 2005, but it prevails in western Nepal – a region considered remote. The chhaupadi puts the woman in danger of snake bites, other wildlife attacks and rapes.
Some communities believe that if women and girls in menstruation do not leave home, they may be punished as natural disasters.
Women are prevented from touching a number of objects, such as milk, religious figures and livestock. In addition, you should only eat what you need. Nor can they meet other family members during menstruation.
This custom has caused innumerable deaths, even after the government has applied a three-month sentence of imprisonment and a fine of 3,000 rupees, or about $ 100.
Last year, a woman also died choked after being expelled from the home. In 2017, a teenager was found dead by a form bite.
Human rights activists say the government's efforts to end the practice of "chhaupadi" have been inadequate and call for closer monitoring.
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