DHANGADI, July 15: Kamala Aauji, a 28-year-old resident of Nigali, Krishnapur Municipality-1 in Kanchanpur, left her three young sons at home and went to sleep in a nearby menstruation hut on Friday night. Since her own hut leaked, she went to her sister-in-law’s hut. That night, a krait snake bit her. Having seen others die from snakebites before, she panicked, screamed, and cried for help.
Hearing her screams, neighbors rushed to the hut. At that time, a krait snake was still slithering on Kamala’s bed. She was taken to Seti Provincial Hospital in Dhangadhi, Kailali, in an autorickshaw around 1:30 am. However, there were no available ventilators or ICU beds. Treatment began around 4 am after she was admitted to the ICU, but Kamala could not survive. That evening, at around 7 pm, doctors declared her dead. "As soon as we learned she was bitten by a snake, we rushed her to Seti Hospital in an autorickshaw during the night, but we couldn’t save her," said her elder brother-in-law, Siddha Aauji.
Kamala was living in Nepal with her three sons. Her husband and parents-in-law were in India for work. She lived in Nepal with her sons aged 6, 8, and 12. Her husband, Puran, is on his way back. That is why her body is still at the hospital. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sagar Bohora of the District Police Office, Kanchanpur, her body will be handed over only after her husband arrives. This horrifying incident from Kanchanpur—considered one of the more accessible districts in the Sudurpaschim province—has not only shocked Kamala’s village but has also left everyone distressed and outraged.
On 22 November 2022, a 13-year-old girl sleeping in a menstruation hut in Kamalbazar Municipality-5, Achham, was raped. On 18 June, 2024, a 16-year-old girl was raped by a maternal relative while she was in a menstruation hut in Panchdewal Binayak Municipality-2, Achham.
On November 20, 2016, 15-year-old Roshni Tiruwa from Gajara, Bannigadi Jayagad Rural Municipality-1, Achham, and 45-year-old Dambara Upadhyay from Jayagad Rural Municipality-4 died of suffocation inside separate menstruation huts on the same day.
On 27 January, 2024, 45-year-old Saraswati Bitalu of Mohanyal Rural Municipality- 7, Kailali, was attacked and injured by a tiger while sleeping in a menstruation huts.
These incidents are just some representative cases resulting from the practice of chhaugoths. Such events have been occurring for years, and it is impossible to say how long this will continue. While the world has entered the miraculous era of Artificial Intelligence, Nepal has yet to move beyond the era of considering menstruation—a natural process in a woman’s body—as "impure." Due to superstitions and harmful traditions that forbid women from sleeping inside the house during menstruation, women continue to suffer various hardships, pain, and even death in Chhaugoths.
18 deaths
There is no exact information on how many people have died in Chhaugoth. According to Police Inspector Saraswati Adhikari of the Crime Investigation Branch (CIB) at the Sudurpashchim Province Police Office, since 2016, eight people have died in Chhaugoths, and one person was injured in a tiger attack.
Dr. Radha Paudel, a global activist for ‘Dignified Menstruation’ who has done a PhD on the subject, stated that she has collected data indicating that 18 people have died so far while staying in Chhaugoths. According to Paudel, two women died in Dailekh, while 16 women died in Achham, Bajura, Doti, and Kanchanpur in Sudurpashchim Province.
“Although the resolution on dignified menstruation was unanimously passed on March 21, 2025, no initiative or work has been done by the three levels of government or other state bodies,” she said. “Efforts to break the fear ingrained in people’s minds through awareness campaigns are needed, but such efforts have not taken place.”
Debates fade away with incidents
Discussions, debates, and criticisms that arise after women die in chhaugoths quickly die down. Campaigns to demolish menstrual huts also take place, some huts are destroyed, and awareness campaigns are launched, but gradually all these efforts become ineffective.
Locals say there are nearly one hundred menstrual huts just in Krishnapur Municipality-1, Kanchanpur. After Kamala’s death, the District Administration Office, Kanchanpur and the municipality started a campaign to demolish the huts from Monday, but it is uncertain how long this will continue.
Police Inspector Adhikari of the CIB at Sudurpashchim Province Police Office shared that 7,545 chhaugoths have been demolished in Sudurpashchim Province, but the incidents have not stopped repeating.
Only one person punished
On December 1, 2019, 22-year-old Parwati Rawat of Sanfebagar Municipality-3, Achham, died after being bitten by a snake in a menstrual hut. Although no one from the victim’s side filed a complaint, the police arrested her elder brother-in-law, Chhatra Rawat, based on the investigation report and registered a case at the District Court, Achham. The court sentenced him to 45 days in jail for forcing her to stay in the chhaugoths.
According to activist Dr. Paudel, this is the only case so far in which legal action has been taken against forcing women to stay in menstrual huts. Voices are rising from all sides demanding that the three tiers of government urgently take serious steps to stop the premature deaths of innocent women in Chhaugoths during menstruation.