Last week two men tried to force themselves onto a woman from Mudali VDC, Parsa when she had gone to toilet at night. However, after the woman cried for help the two ran off.

Similarly, a woman from Vishwa was victim to an attempted gang rape by three men on May 30. Police have arrested one of the perpetrators and started further investigation into the case.

Likewise, a woman was victim to gang rape by two men while using the toilet a couple of months ago. She had returned home in a critical state at 3am the following morning. Police have taken two men into custody on the basis of the victim’s statement.

“As women prefer to use the loo early mornings or late nights, the perpetrators have an easy time preying on the women,” said social facilitator Dharmendra Jha.

Journalist Chandra Kishor said women in Tarai were unsafe for not having toilets at their homes.

“Females who have to go use toilets far from the village are most vulnerable,” said a resident of Padmaul Tole in Nagardahan, Najma Khatun. Khatun who has attended school till the eighth grade has never seen a toilet. “We did not have a toilet in our home (referring to her maternal home in India). Neither do we have one here (referring to her residence in Nepal),” said Khatun.

Almost 95 percent of the houses in the area do not have toilets in the vicinity. According to an unofficial data, although 62 percent of the people in the country have access to a toilet, the figure stands at 3 percent in Parsa.

General Secretary of the Red Cross Society Birendra Kandel said they were taking initiatives for constructing toilets in rural areas.