尼泊尔15岁少女因月经受罚致死

Police in Nepal are investigating the death of a 15-year-old girl who was banished to a poorly-ventilated shed because she was menstruating.

尼泊尔一名15岁少女因来月经被关进一个不透风的小屋棚里而导致其死亡，事件发生后，警方介入调查。

They say the girl suffocated after lighting a fire to keep warm.

警方表示，该女子在棚里点火取暖，因窒息而死。

Under an ancient Hindu practice, called chhaupadi, women who have their periods or who have just given birth are seen as impure.

据印度教的一种叫chhaupadi的古老习俗，女性在来月经时或刚分娩后不纯洁。

It was banned by the Nepalese government in 2005, but still continues in remote western rural areas.

尼泊尔政府在2005年就已取缔了这种习俗。但是在偏远的西部农村，这个习俗仍然存在。

The body of Roshani Tiruwa was found by her father last weekend in a stone and mud hut in the village of Gajra, in Achham district, 440km (275 miles) west of Kathmandu.

上周，在加德满都西部约440公里（275英里）的阿查哈姆地区的Gajra村，鲁沙尼·迪鲁瓦的父亲在石头泥瓦棚中发现了女儿的尸体。

Some communities in remote areas believe that they will suffer a misfortune such as a natural disaster unless menstruating women are secluded. While in isolation they are denied their usual intake of food and are prohibited from drinking milk.

在尼泊尔一些偏远地区，很多人认为，如果不把来月经的女人隔离起来就会遭厄运。这些女孩被隔离的时候，通常不给饭吃，也禁止喝牛奶。

In many cases the huts that menstruating girls and women are banished to are shared with cattle and their excrement and are sometimes some distance from a village.

这些少女和妇女们往往被关进牛粪满地的牛棚中，有时还远离村庄。

They can be freezing cold in winter and stiflingly hot in summer. It is thought that many victims of the tradition suffer from mental and physical illnesses in later life.

这些屋棚冬季酷寒、夏季炎热。很多受害者后来都患上精神病或其他疾病。

The chhaupadi rules mean that a menstruating female faces restrictions on where she can sleep, who she can see, where she is allowed to go and who she can touch.

根据chhaupadi这种习俗，来月经的女子在哪儿睡觉、见什么人、可以去哪儿、以及她能触碰什么人都有限制。

Critics say the government has not done enough to eradicate the practice. But officials argue it is difficult to prevent such abuses when they are so deeply ingrained in local culture.

批评人士表示，尼泊尔政府没有做出足够努力消灭这种习俗。但是尼泊尔官员则辩解称，这种习俗在当地文化中根深蒂固，很难防止类似事件的发生。