India, Nov. 21 -- When 14-year-old Saismruti experienced her first period, her mother followed a decades-old local tradition by immediately isolating her in a nearby house for six days. No male member, including her father, was allowed to visit or see her during this time. On the seventh day, Saismruti was welcomed back home, and a community feast was held to celebrate her attainment of puberty. In Dubagada, a village in the Phulbani block of Odisha's tribal-dominated Kandhamal district, this feast traditionally serves as a public announcement that a girl has reached a marriageable age. It is during this gathering that alliances are often fixed, and weddings arranged within weeks.

With every custom related to Saismruti's first menarche b...