Menstruation hut Nepal
© ReutersThe chhaupadi practice has been banned in Nepal for more than a decade.
An 18-year-old girl has died in Nepal after she was bitten by a snake while banished to a shed because she was menstruating, under an ancient Hindu practice that has been banned for more than a decade, officials said.

Tulasi Shahi was bitten twice by a venomous snake and died on Friday morning in western Dailekh district, according to local officials.

"She survived for seven hours after the snake bite but died because medical treatment was delayed," local mayor Surya Bahadur Shahi told AFP news agency on Saturday.

Some Hindus view menstruating women as impure and in parts of Nepal they are forced to remain in a hut or cowshed for day as part of a practice known as chhaupadi.

According to local media, her family took her to the village shaman for treatment instead of taking her to a hospital.

Local police confirmed that a girl had died but were unable to provide further details on the cause.

Menstruation huts
© Ahmedabad MirrorMenstruation huts lack basic hygiene.
Banned practice

Under the chhaupadi practice, women are banned from taking part in normal family activities during menstruation and after childbirth, and can have no contact with men of the household.

Women who violate the practice are blamed for crop failures, illnesses and sudden deaths of animals.

Two women died in late 2016 in separate incidents while following the practice. One of women died of smoke inhalation after she lit a fire for warmth. The cause of death of the other woman has not been determined.

Rights groups say many other deaths linked to the practice likely go unreported.

Chhaupadi was banned a decade ago but is still followed in parts of Nepal, particularly in remote western districts.

Proposed legislation that would criminalise the practice and make it an imprisonable offence to force women to follow the ritual is currently pending in parliament.