The death of an 18 year old girl under a bizarre circumstance at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital strikes strange attention across the state where the patents are to be blamed for keeping silence.
The strange but true incident came to light when a team of doctors were conducting a surgery on the girl after she complained of stomach pain. The doctors attending on her found parasites that already have damaged her intestine.
According to the doctors, the use of dirty cloths instead of sanitary napkins during the menstruation period allowed the parasites to penetrate into her intestine.
She complained of stomach swelling and gradual pain two months back. But the parents blamed her boy friend fearing early pregnancy and kept waiting.
An escalating stomach pain forcing her parents to move the Gauhati Medical College Hospital where the doctors had no option to save her life as her entire intestine system were found damaged which was irreparable.
According to Archana Borthakur, who founded Priyabandhu, a non-governmental organization, many girls and women in the rural area still are not aware of the consequences of using unhygienic clothes during menstrual period.
She said the need of the hour is an awareness drive. Months back, Congress MP Sushmita Dev's campaign for tax-free sanitary napkins in the new goods and services tax regime has garnered a huge response from people all across the country. Her Internet petition has secured more than two lakh signatures.
Terming sanitary napkins as ' necessary safeguard for health and life', she has written to Arun Jaitly, Finance Minister to exempt napkins from tax. Dev argues that zero tax on sanitary napkins will make it more accessible to girls and women, thereby raising school attendance and women's participation in the workforce.
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