Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeEditorialTRP, limelight and publicity matters, not Rape or Molestation

TRP, limelight and publicity matters, not Rape or Molestation

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Every day, there is news about brutality and abuse against woman, since BJP has come to power. However, rape and molestation news are treated as ‘other’ normal news and it is published on inside pages. In Madhya Pradesh, horrific crime against a woman happened where 10 men gang-raped her, including her husband. She was also made to drink urine and paraded semi-naked in the village. However, the news got space in inside page. What treatment does the husband deserve? Shouldn’t he be hanged in public and made an example for others to see? What is the use of our political system if crimes against women are rising like this? It’s a shame. Humanity is at its lowest. I think, India needs a Shariah law for sure. A few months ago, the woman and her husband had a dispute over a piece of land, following which he allegedly attacked her with an axe. When the woman and her son reached her husband’s village, they were allegedly tied up and locked in a store room by the husband and nine other men. The woman registered a complaint with the police and then moved into her parents’ house in another village along with her 10-year-old son. In reaction, she has to face this atrocious occurrence.

However, the media has given coverage to actress Preity Zinta, who has accused her former boyfriend and businessman Ness Wadia of molesting her. We are making this as national news; the actress in her late 30s has not much future in films. She is aging and such stunts might give her some opening in BiggBoss kind of reality show. They need to remain in news for survival. Whatsoever, she has means to remain in news and force judiciary to act in her favour. However, such is not the fate of other women in this country who suffers molestation. It is common practice in film industry to do this type of stunt. I hope, you remember Priti Jain who accused Madhur Bhandarkar of raping her more than 20 times. Usually, it is done just before the release of films for gaining popularity or when the actresses see no future in films. Surprisingly, this does not fall under that category, may be, she is going through some financial issues due to IPL or she wants to recoup from Wadia. It is for sure, within some days, barely in a month’s time, they will walk together in public. We are fed up of such cheap tactics. We have seen her as the most bold and out- right woman in India, when she stood up against underworld and if this spoiled brat is wrong then he should be shown his place. However, this news don’t deserve 24/7 coverage or front page coverage. In all likelihood, this whole complaint drama is being carried out as a publicity stunt by both Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta, and will emerge as yet another scam by shallow persons involved in the scammed-to-no-end, low Indian Premier League.

By expressing my stand in Preity Zinta’s case, I don’t mean that Ness Wadia is innocent and he should be spared or this case is wrong. There can be some substance but media needs to be aware which news to be given more importance. Zinta is capable of getting justice but think of a woman in rural area who gets molested and killed. There is no voice for her. It is pity that the police was overacting by filing cases against Ness Wadia. He had no right to use physical force in an argument, even if he is an ex-boyfriend. Humans have the power of speech and language to put across their points. Ness Wadia should be penalised for his act. An example should be set which clearly shows that such demeaning actions against a woman are unacceptable and are cowardly acts. This is simply a civil matter between couples who are quarreling with each other. It is unfair to make it a criminal police case. If they can’t tolerate each other, they can avoid each other, as they are not married. Zinta has alleged that Mr. Wadia molested, abused and threatened her on May 30 inside the Wankhede stadium in south Mumbai, where an IPL match was being played between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings. When she was molested in public then what the spectators were doing? Why no one helped Zinta or thrashed Wadia? Why this incidence was wrapped up for so many days? After her written complaint, a first information report or FIR was registered against Wadia under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Meanwhile, questioning the “delay” in taking action in the case, Maharashtra State Women’s Rights Commission has given the city police a 24-hour ultimatum to arrest Wadia. Look at the promptness of Women’s Rights Commission in high profile case, where were they when other women get thrashed and gang-raped almost every day? Did they ever question anyone in this regard? Everyone wants news coverage; the low profile cases may not give them that mileage. This is the kind of society, authority and media we have.

There was another case in Jaipur on the same day. Breaking barriers and ending her four-year-silence, the rape survivor who named Union Minister Nihal Chand Meghwal in her rape case demanded a CBI probe into the incident. Notices were issued to Nihal Chand Meghwal, Minister of State (MoS) in the Narendra Modi government, by a district court in Jaipur. The victim had filed a First Information Report (FIR) in 2011, alleging sexual exploitation by her husband. She had accused him of drugging her and then letting his associates rape her. The FIR also named MoS chemicals and fertilizers Meghwal, now the only minister from Rajasthan in the Modi cabinet, as one of the people who sexually exploited her. The police closed the case in 2012 stating that the charges by the rape survivor were false and fabricated. She appealed to a district court, following which additional district Judge Prem Prakash Gupta issued notices to Meghwal and 17 others in this case asking them to respond by August 20. God knows, what fate women have in this country, but wish all authorities, media and Women’s Rights Commission act equally responsible and harsh as they act in high profile dramas.

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Vaidehi Taman
Vaidehi Tamanhttps://authorvaidehi.com
Vaidehi Taman an Accredited Journalist from Maharashtra is bestowed with three Honourary Doctorate in Journalism. Vaidehi has been an active journalist for the past 21 years, and is also the founding editor of an English daily tabloid – Afternoon Voice, a Marathi web portal – Mumbai Manoos, and The Democracy digital video news portal is her brain child. Vaidehi has three books in her name, "Sikhism vs Sickism", "Life Beyond Complications" and "Vedanti". She is an EC Council Certified Ethical Hacker, OSCP offensive securities, Certified Security Analyst and Licensed Penetration Tester that caters to her freelance jobs.
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