An 18-year-old girl has died of a snake bite while observing Chaupadi, a regressive social practice followed in some parts of Nepal where a woman is banished from home during the menstruation period as it is believed to bring bad luck.
The menstruating women are prohibited from taking part in normal activities and confine themselves to dingy cowsheds.
Half of Indian girls don't know about menstruation until they get their first period: Study
The tragic incident took place on Thursday night when Tulasi Shahi was sent to her uncle's cowshed to observe Chaupadi where she was bitten by a poisonous snake.
As she continued to writhe in pain, Shahi was first taken to a village shaman who was unable to cure her. Then she was taken to a medical clinic near Dailekh where the anti-venom to treat her was unavailable. According to the CNN, Surya Bahadur Shahi, the mayor of the local district said that the girl was bitten in her arm and leg.
With no anti-venom available and with roads to the distant hospital water logged, the teenager died the next morning.
"If she was given proper treatment, she would have survived," Kamala Shahi, the victim's cousin who works at a government health post was quoted as saying by The New York times.
"She died because of superstition," she added.
Unfortunately, Tulasi is not the only girl who is a victim of this superstition. Anita Gyawali, an official responsible for women's issues in Dailekh said that around six weeks ago, another girl spending a night at the menstrual hut died after being bitten by a snake.
"Young girls feel guilty. They are forced to follow this tradition by their parents and religion," Gyawali told NYT.
Though the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered to ban this tradition in 2005 and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had also asked to end it last month, 50 percent of the women in the midwestern and far-western regions of Nepal still continue to stay secluded from their house and family when they menstruate.
The menstruating women who are considered impure are also not allowed to participate in social events, touch people, cattle and some food. It is believed that if these women touch a cow, the animal's milk will become impure and it will also stop giving milk.
Uttara Saud, 14, sits inside a Chaupadi shed in the hills of Legudsen village in Achham District in western Nepal February 16, 2014.Reuters 
Dhuna Devi Saud prepares to sleep inside a Chaupadi shed in the hills of Legudsen village in Achham District in western Nepal February 16, 2014.Reuters 
Surja Devi Saud, 20, who practices Chaupadi, sits outside her house in Achham District in western Nepal February 16, 2014.Reuters
The women sleep on hay and wooden boards in the shed in all weather conditions, thus increasing the risk of encountering snakes who venture into these sheds for warmth and other wild animals as well.
The Nepal government has been trying to educate the women about using sanitary napkins and discontinue the Chaupadi practice.
"There are so many organisations working on this issue," Radha Paudel, a women's rights activist in Kathmandu said.
"Our president is a woman, the speaker is a woman, and our chief justice was a woman. But girls are dying in the shed, and they have to live like animals. It's shameful," added Paudel.
