A 22-year-old woman who was banished to a hut nearby her house in Achham following the monthly period was found dead last night.

She is Gauri Budha, spouse of Birendra Budha of Bhairavsthan of Turmakhand Rural Municipality-3.

Her family went into the hut to check her as she did not wake up until late in the morning. She was the 11th grader at the local Kalikeshwori Higher Secondary School.

"She worked whole day in a farm on Sunday and seemed normal. She had no complains of any uneasiness," said her father-in-law Dambar Bahadur Budha. Her husband is with the Nepal Police and the family is waiting for his arrival to perform the last rites.

Though, the practice of Chhaupadi (a custom that sends women to isolation during the monthly period) is banned by law in Nepal, women continue to fall prey to this deeply rooted ill tradition.

It may be noted that the Women and Children Office, with the support of the Save the Children, declared Bhairabsthan chhaupadi-free zone two years ago.

Last year, Dambara Upadhyay of Timalsena and Roshani Tiruwa of Gajra had been found dead in the menstruation huts in this district in the far-western Nepal.

Chhaupadi was illegal in Nepal since 2005 while it was criminalsed in the Civil Code earlier this year.  RSS