dehydration from being kept in a menstruation hut. Both her family and neighbours refused to bring her to the hospital because they believed that they would become impure should they touch her. Two young women in late 2016 who died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning from fires. In May 2017, Lalsara Bika, a 14-year-old, died as a result of a serious cold-related illness from living in a menstruation hut. In July 2017, 19-year-old Tulasi Shahi died from being bitten by a snake "twice, on her head and leg," while living in a cow shed being used as a menstruation hut. In January 2019, an old Nepali mother and her sons, aged 9 and 12, died of smoke inhalation while living in their menstrual hut. In early February 2019, 21-year old Parwati Bogati died from suffocation and smoke inhalation after lighting a fire to stay warm. Public action against chhaupadi Community and organizational actions exist to combat the practice. In January 2019, local authorities demanded the destruction of chhaupadi huts in Bajura, the municipality in which a woman and her two young sons died in a hut. This resulted in the removal of 60 sheds, and the deployment of law enforcement to patrol for further removal. Legislation Chhaupadi was outlawed by the Supreme Court of Nepal in 2005, but the tradition has been slow to change. In 2017, Nepal passed a law punishing people who force women into exile during menstruating with up to three months in jail or a fine of 3,000 Nepalese rupees. However, in the five months since the new law went into effect (in August 2018), no cases have been filed against those enforcing the practice. In late 2018, district governments in the far west of the country began denying state support services to citizens still enforcing the practice of chhaupadi, in an effort to reduce the practice. See also Culture and menstruation Carbon monoxide poisoning Menstrual Hygiene Day Ritual purity References External links (BBC) Women hail menstruation ruling (BBC) Nepal's 'confined women' want change (National Geographic) The Risky Lives of Women Sent Into Exile—For Menstruating (The New York Times) In Nepal, Exiled Each Month (video) (The Christian Science Monitor) Nepal's Menstruation huts (NPR) In Hindu Ritual, Nepali Women Are Banished Once A Month Nepalese culture Superstitions of Nepal Women in Nepal Menstrual cycle Feminine hygiene Taboo Feminism and health Women's rights in Nepal