Watch: This community banishes menstruating women, made to live in jungles

“If we do not practice religion, the gods will bring us trouble. I have no choice but to worship,” says midwife Gita Lama.

In Simikot, a region in the far north west of Nepal, women are banished from their homes and are made to live in jungles. They are also made to live in the animal sheds or goth for 20 days after childbirth as well. This practice is called chaupadi.

Humla is one of the most inaccessible locations in the world. People in this region are dependent on minimal trade with Tibet and subsistence farming.

Alice Carfrae writes for Broadly and narrates about chaupadi and also explains how the condition is far more horrifying than one can imagine.

"The geographic remoteness means that traditions in this place remain strongly intact" writes Carfrae. She talks about 12 teenagers who have been banished from their homes for the duration.

Goth is shared by who ever is menstruating but the risk of rape is serious during this time. When practicing chau many women sleep alone. Also during mensuration women are not allowed inside the house, so they take up hard labor.

"These conditions take their toll: they make women more vulnerable to health problems such as respiratory diseases, prolapses, and bent spines due to the heavy loads," Carfrae points out.

The normal life expectancy of women in this region is 53 years. Many women give birth in the goth, which leads to high infant mortality rate. However all this is changing inform midwife Gita Lama.

New government scheme now pays women roughly Rs 1,000 if they give birth in a clinic. But women fear breaking the community tradition and still go back to goth after being released from the clinic. If you give birth to a girl you have to stay longer in the goth. Boys are more important so you can go back to the house earlier. I gave birth to a boy so I'm happy," said Laxmi, a 22-year-old woman, who had just given birth in the local clinic.

Laxmi’s husband didn’t wanted them to sleep in the goth but she wanted to practice chau. “If we do not practice religion, the gods will bring us trouble. I have no choice but to worship.”

When we talk about infant mortality in the world, Nepal tops the chart.

Two to three women used to die every year during or shortly after childbirth. We advise women to stay in the hospital. But there are those who still choose to stay in the goth. If we ignore the doctors' advice we will still survive, but if we disobey God, God will punish us. God is more powerful than man " Gita Lama said. Although not all women practice chau, it is reinforced through myth and storytelling, says Carfrae.

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