Court ruling for Nepal children

By Bhagirath Yogi
BBC News, Kathmandu

Nepal's Supreme Court has ruled that children must be granted citizenship even if their parents are unknown.

The ruling was in response to petitions demanding citizenship for children of "Badi women" - sex workers in western parts of the country.

Previously an applicant's husband or father had to be named before citizenship could be granted.

The ruling came a day after the court also ordered an end to discrimination against women in their menstrual cycle.

Constitution

A special bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday made it mandatory for the government to award citizenship certificates to every child in the country.

The court said the state should guarantee citizenship to a child even if he or she was born as a result of rape.

A number of petitions were filed on behalf of the Badi community - said to be more than 70,000 strong.

The Badi community says the system had treated them like outcasts.

Advocate, Prakash Mani Sharma, who was one of the petitioners, said the verdict would be seen as a milestone in enforcing children's rights.

He said right to citizenship was vital as it opened access to other rights guaranteed by the constitution, including the right to vote.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ordered the government to declare the practice of keeping women in cow-sheds during their menstruation cycle as evil.

The court gave it one month to begin stamping out the practice - common in far western districts of the country.