Despite years of work, Rato Baltin remains essential. In 2025, at least three new deaths have been reported as a result of chhaupadi, the practice that forces women and girls to isolate themselves during menstruation or childbirth.

On 29 August 2025, Nim Khanal (28) and Kabita Bhandari (7) died in the village of Serapani, Panchadewal Binayak Municipality 8 (Achham), when a large rock fell on the semi-collapsed chhaupadi hut where they were sleeping. The girl’s mother survived but had to be hospitalized in Surkhet.

A few weeks earlier, on 12 July 2025, Kamala Aauji (28) died after being bitten by a snake while sleeping in a menstrual hut. A mother of three, she lived alone while her husband worked in India. Her family initially tried to hide the case, claiming the bite occurred at home, but police confirmed that she had been sleeping in a chhaugoth because she was menstruating.

In the municipality where be artsy and Unnati have been working this year, the team found that the practice not only persists but has worsened. Former huts that were destroyed are now being reused without roofs and in even more degrading conditions, forcing women and girls to spend cold nights in wet clothes, exposed to illness, animals, and severe health and safety risks.

be artsy remains deeply committed to working alongside local communities through education, participation, and dialogue to end chhaupadi and ensure that no woman or girl dies because of an unjust tradition.

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