Among the various violence against women, evil practices such as Chhaupadi and Gufa are still persisting in some parts of Nepal. Some students in America who were surprised to know about such malpractices have made a film based on the 'virtual reality' (VR) technology on this subject.

The film called 'Ek Goth Dhirinko Awaz' has tried to convey the mental and emotional struggle faced by women when they live in huts, caves or similar isolated places during menstruation. 

This film was made by the collective efforts of Nepalese and foreign students studying at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Drexel and Pennsylvania University in the United States. Director Prashann Subedi said that by presenting old social evils like chhaupdi through modern technology, the aim is to create sympathy for women among the audience and spread awareness against such problems.

'It was sad to hear the news in the news that menstruating women are still forced to live in sheds built in unsafe and unhealthy places away from their homes according to the Chaupadi custom in the far western part of Nepal,' Prashann said, 'Even though it has been legally banned, this custom still continues in a hidden or modified form. . Instead of huts, women are made to sit in goat cages during menstruation. Thinking that it has become worse, we have tried to tell a story against it through film.'  Hemanta Adhikari, the writer of the

film, narrated that the subject of menstruation was a very personal matter for her and she felt emotional while working on it. "There is no strict tradition like Chhaupdi in Nepal in America, but I have also experienced the pain during menstruation," she said, "I came to America when I was 6 years old. It was strange to hear that when menstruating for the first time, you should not touch your father or grandfather, you should not stay at home, because we were taught in school to associate menstruation with reproductive health.' Although she was initially angry with her mother about this issue, when Hemanta studied more about it, she said that the Chhaupadi system is prevalent in Nepal and she felt that her situation was less bad compared to others.

According to Prashann, the main character of the film is 13-year-old Priya, who lives in the rural areas of far-western Nepal. The story of Priya, who is interested in singing, is the basis of the entire film. She gets a great opportunity to go to Kathmandu to participate in a singing competition, but after her period, she is forced to stay in a camp. She feels physical hardships and mental conflict while living in the ghetto. Priya's inner voice, mental conflict and social pressure is a feature of this film that the audience can feel for themselves through VR technology.

'After wearing the VR headset, the audience can become the prey and observe the narrow, dark and insecure place of the intersection,' Prasin Shrestha, the chief developer and animator of the film, said, 'The audience can only see what we have shown in the traditional 2D film. Yes, in VR, since the viewer can see all around, the scene has to be created from every angle. Audio should also be adjusted according to the location of the audience. It makes the film realistic and effective.'  Preparations for the

film began in May 2023. The project is directed by Prashann, Prasin in animation and Hemanta in writing along with Done Bhatt as tech consultant, Utsav Chaudhary as VR consultant, Chris Sale in sound design and Medhavi Pandit in narration. An American, a Greek and a Vietnamese student are also involved in this project, informed Prashann. 

Director Prashann says that although the story of Nepali society is told, the main audience of the film is western youth, so the challenge is to tell the story about Chhaupadi system in a restrained manner. "Because it will be shown to Westerners, we are not only trying to present the Chhaupadi custom as a bad culture, but we are trying to give information about the health and social effects," he said, "Our university professors have also suggested us to pay special attention to this."  A VR version of the

film will soon be available on the 'MetaQuest App', which can be viewed for free. A 'non-interactive' version of the film will also be made available on YouTube and other online platforms for those who don't have a VR headset, Prashann said. He says that the

film will be distributed as an educational material and not for commercial purposes. According to the production team, the aim is to spread awareness about women's rights and reproductive health by showing it at schools, health conferences and film festivals. The

team spent 5 months in the making of the film to create an 8-minute long prototype, which will eventually be 12 to 14 minutes long, Prasin said. Prashann and Prasin are coming to Nepal next week to collect more information and to include the local language, Deuda language and rural life in the film.

They are ready to finalize the film after they return from Mohanyal Rural Municipality of Kailali. "The college has nominated us for a fund worth 4,000 dollars to go to Nepal and learn more," said Prashann, "We are coming to Nepal from December 10 to January 10."  Prashan said that