16-year-old gang-raped in menstruation hut; one arrested

ACHHAM: A 16-year-old girl forced to stay in a ‘Chhau Goth’, or menstruation hut, was allegedly gang-raped in Rithetola in Panchadeval Binayak Municipality-3 of Achham district on Monday night.

Although declared illegal, many families in Sudurpashchim still keep menstruating women in ‘Chhaupadi Goth’. Many of these women have been raped or died due to suffocation and snakebites. Achham was declared a menstruation hut-free district.

Harka Bahadur Rawat, the vice-chairperson of the municipality, said the girl was found unconscious inside the menstruation hut. She regained consciousness at the hospital and shared the ordeal she went through with a relative, Rawat added.

“She used to stay with her maternal uncle’s family. When we received the information that a girl had been found in an unconscious state in the menstruation hut, we took her to the hospital. A local female community health volunteer, who is her maternal aunt, accompanied her to the hospital,” Rawat said.

After regaining consciousness, the girl told the female health volunteer that a group of three or four men had blindfolded her, tied her hands and feet, and gang-raped her. She told the relative that she could identify one of them.

“We immediately informed the police about the incident. The police took the girl to a nearby hospital which confirmed the rape,” Rawat added.

According to the District Police Office, Achham, there are bruises on different parts of the girl’s body. District Police Chief DSP Santosh Pathak said a local 17-year-old boy has been arrested for investigation.

A team led by Mayor Ambika Chalaune, who reached the site to rescue the girl, has demolished the menstruation hut.