Ganeshi Ram, a local, standing by the separate toilets built for male and female members of his family, in his house at Sukhipur Municipality, Siraha district, on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. Photo: THTSiraha, June 7

Fifty-six-year-old Ganeshi Ram of Langurawa at Sukhipur Municipality, Siraha, has two toilets. Two latrines were constructed not because he has a large family but because of the prevailing social ban that prevents malesand females from using the same toilet.

Elderly people still hesitate to use the toilet in the villages of Tarai. Fathers-in-law and daughters-in-law are reluctant to use the same latrine. “I constructed two toilets due to the reluctance to use the same toilet that is being used by the son and daughter-in-law,” Ganeshi Ram said.

Ram has a family of six members. His son is employed in a foreign land while his grandson is studying in the city. Ram is not the only villager who has two toilets at home in Langurawa.

Ram Awatar Mochi of the same village also has two latrines. Mochi said he had constructed a second toilet as he could not allow himself to use the latrine used by his son and daughter-in-law. “Before the toilet was constructed, we used to go to different places for defecation. After we started using the toilet, I constructed second one for separate use,” Mochi said.

Faugani Mahara, 52, is another villager who has built two toilets. Mahara said two toilets were constructed due to reluctance on the part of the female members of his family to use the toilet used by males. “It is very hard for us to get used to defecating in the toilet as we used to do so in the open. Our deep-rooted values do not allow males and females to use the same toilet,” Mahara said.

“We are using the toilet after the government instructed us to build it,” Kailash Sah, a local, said.

Under the campaign to make country open defecation free by 2017, toilet construction work gained momentum in Siraha. In line with the campaign, well-to-do families have constructed separate toilets for males and females of the family.

It is learnt that elderly people with a single toilet are having a hard time defecating inside the latrine and though they have latrine at home, they still prefer to defecate in the open. The same may be said of children.