Nepali woman dies in outlawed 'menstruation hut'

A Nepali woman has died of suspected smoke inhalation while banished to a hut during her period, police said yesterday, just weeks after the deaths of a mother and two children in similar circumstances sparked outrage.

Many communities in Nepal view menstruating women as impure and in some remote areas they are forced to sleep in a hut away from the home, following a centuries-old tradition known as "chhaupadi".

Parbati Bogati, 21, was found dead in a smoke-filled hut on Thursday morning in the western Doti district when her mother-in-law went to check on her.

"We suspect she died due to smoke inhalation and suffocation because she closed the door of the windowless hut and lit a fire on the floor for warmth during the night," local police officer Lal Bahadur Dhami told AFP.