Kathmandu, November 25:

The government is yet to implement the Supreme Court verdict regarding the practice of chhaupadi. The Supreme Court had ordered the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Ministries of Women Children and Social Welfare and Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to declare chhaupadi as an evil custom but the government is yet to implement the ruling.

The SC ordered the Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare to issue a directory against the chhaupadi custom within three months and inform the apex court regarding the implementation of the verdict.

According to an official of the SC, the government has not informed the court about directory or about its implementation. A division bench of Justices Anup Raj Sharma and Arjun Prasad Singh had issued the order on May 2, 2005 responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) jointly filed by some nongovernmental organisations. Chhaupadi is a custom practised in the western part of Nepal where women are forced to live in unhygienic conditions in cowsheds for 11 days during their periods.