DISTURBING

Girl, 16, Dies After Being Made to Sleep in ‘Period Hut’ Outside Her Home

She’s believed to have been killed by a snake bite while she was sleeping.

A teenage girl in Nepal died on Wednesday after being forced to sleep in a “period hut” outside her home while menstruating, according to The Guardian. Anita Chand, 16, from Nepal’s western Baitadi district, is thought to have been bitten by a snake as she slept in the hut. It’s the first reported death associated with the illegal practice of “chhaupadi”—where women and girls are considered unclean during menstruation—since 2019. The custom, which is tied with Hinduism, was outlawed in Nepal in 2005, but the practice remains deeply embedded in the country’s western region. Women and girls forced into “period huts” during menstruation have previously been reported to have died from other animal attacks and smoke inhalation after lighting fires in the windowless structures.