Chhaupadi:Taboo of menstruation
Laxmi Kumari Budha who is was
only 16 years old teenage girl from Nepal lost her life while staying in Chhaupadi.
The term Chhaupadi might be a new terminology for the most of the readers, however
for the people of Nepal, it is practices or tradition where menstruation women
or girls are forced to stay away from their home and take shelter in shed or Chhaupadi.
Girls and women are considered to be impure and are forbidden to touch men and
even the courtyard of their own home. Furthermore, they are barred from eating
any nutritious food during menstruation phase and they have to survive on dry
food and plain rice. Such cruelties are rampant in country like Nepal where
illiteracy and superstitions practices exist on the mind of the most of the
people residing in rural areas.
Unfortunate incident like that of
Laxmi Kumari Budha is everyday story
there where some woman die on Chhaupadi where some of them are raped. Death due
to Snake bites, Lack of ventilation, Rape are some of the risk that woman have
to bear during this seclusion period.
Kalli Biswokarma,a 47 year old
mother of one was mercilessly tortured as she was accused of practicing
witchcraft which is rife in most of the rural part of nepal. She was taken
forcibly from her home by a group of around 35 people and was detent in cowshed
where she was forced to eat human faeces and urine. Furthermore, they cut her
skin with blade and finally she was forced to confess that she was witch inoder
to save her life. Such kind of practices of torturing is more rampant and
targeted basically to woman belonging to poor family and low caste. Hundred of
women suffer the same ordeal every Year in Nepal in the name of witchcraft.
Day light Robbery, gang rape or
child molestation and other crimes are
also a major case that needs to be highlighted but the incident I have
put on spotlight are some of the major examples that needs to be addressed as
they are pure form of crimes in the name of superstition in underdeveloped
countries like nepal. Considering all the above given crimes, the world needs
to address such injustice besides headlining Whitney Houston or Michael Jackson
death for a month or creating a hype for launch of upcoming I pad.