The Guardian: Destroy ‘period huts’ or forget state support: Nepal moves to end practice
“…The withdrawal of state support services is one of the penalties being brought into force as the country tries to tackle chhaupadi, which was banned by the supreme court in 2005 and criminalized by the government last year. Forcing a menstruating women into a ‘period hut’ is now punishable with three months in prison and a 3,000 rupee (£33) fine. Reports nonetheless emerge each year of women dying in huts from snake bites, smoke inhalation, or fire. The practice has also been linked to death and illness among mothers and newborn babies. … But local authorities in some of Nepal’s more remote regions, particularly in the west of the country, where the practice is still common, are determined to act…” (Adhikari, 1/14).