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Court upholds 'child deities' rights
Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the government to ensure basic health care and education for virgin girls worshipped as "living deities" in a centuries-old tradition in the Himalayan nation.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:32 August 19, 2008
Kathmandu: Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the government to ensure basic health care and education for virgin girls worshipped as "living deities" in a centuries-old tradition in the Himalayan nation.
A few children, some as young as three or four, in the Kathmandu valley are picked by Buddhist priests as kumaris, or "living deities". They are then confined to temples until puberty, visited by thousands of devotees.
Critics say the tradition violates the children's rights and leaves them unprepared to face real life when they return to their families after reaching puberty.
"A directive order has been issued to the government to provide basic human rights, including education and health [care] to the child," Supreme Court spokesman Hemanta Rawal said yesterday.
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