Written by: Sabhya Marasini Pradhan - 30039, Grade V
Posted on: 09 December, 2022
There once lived a girl in the tiny village of Kalikot. Her name was Saatvika. She was very kind and polite to everyone. When she was 11 years old, she started having stomach aches, and she noticed blood on her underwear. At first, she was afraid to see the red blood. She ran hurriedly to her mother. When she told her mother, her mother asked her to keep it a secret and instructed her to hide and not to see the faces of fathers, brothers, or any male genders. Saatvika then realised she had entered her menstruation cycle.
Saatvika’s parents send her to a goat shed. The shed was dark and dirty. It was smelling badly, which made Saatvika suffocate. In there, she did not get enough oxygen, and many animals like snakes and scorpions would come through the little holes. At first, Saatvika cried a lot and refused to stay there. But her mother scolded her and forced her to stay there.
On the second day, when Saatvika was sleeping, a venomous snake came through one of the holes and bit her. Saatvika woke up and knew that she had been bitten by the snake. She ran as fast as she could to inform her mother about this, but she was too late. She had lost a lot of blood, and she sadly passed away in a couple of hours.
Nobody had noticed her body on the ground until one of her brothers noticed her and informed his mother and father. Both of them were shocked. They realised that it was a horrible idea to send their daughter to the goat shed.
A couple of other incidents like this had happened in the village. Some of such were: girls being accused and believed to be taboo during their menstruation cycle and beaten to death; girls being sent to goat sheds; etc.
People in villages are not aware that these things are wrong and that menstruation is a natural process. Without menstruation, none of us would even exist. We should stop the superstitions and make people aware that we should not do these things. These things are wrong.
