Nepal police probing death of teen who died after banishment

Nepal police has launched a probe into the death of a 15-year-old girl who died of suffocation after she was banished to a shed outside the village during her menstruating cycle, an ancient Hindu custom outlawed by the government over a decade ago.
The victim, a ninth grade student, was found dead at a cowshed in Gagra of Achham district on December 18, police said.
The police said the girl suffocated after lighting a fire to keep herself warm during the freezing winters, BBC Nepal reported.
The practice, known as chhaupadi, is a social custom of keeping menstruating girls and women in a narrow shed outside the village, under the ancient Hindu custom which views menstruating girls as unclean.

In many cases the huts that menstruating girls and women are banished to are shared with cattle and their excrement and are sometimes set far away from habitation.
Some communities in remote areas believe that they will suffer a misfortune such as a natural disaster unless menstruating women are secluded. While in isolation they are denied their usual intake of food and are prohibited from drinking milk.
The practice was outlawed by the government in 2005, but it is still prevalent among many village communities in Nepal, especially in western Nepal.
Just a month ago, another woman died in Chhaupadi shed. It was also reported that the 21-year-old woman died due to lack of oxygen. She was also told to have lit fire in the shed.