KATHMANDU Around 100 Maoist protesters staged a sit-in as the 2009 Miss Nepal beauty contest got under way in Kathmandu on Thursday, police said.

The demonstrators blocked the road and shouted “down with Miss Nepal” and “stop the exploitation of women,” but left voluntarily as the contest began, police inspector Tul Bahadur Karki said.

“Around 100 Maoist women staged a sit-in at the gate of where the beauty contest was being held,” said Karki.

“The protesters left the scene as soon as the programme started.” The contest to select Nepal's candidate for the annual Miss World competition is being held under tight security after it was cancelled last year by the former Maoist-led government, which branded it anti-women.

Unlike western beauty pageants, Miss Nepal does not have a swimsuit round. Contestants in the deeply conservative, majority-Hindu nation appear in traditional saris.—AFP