Oscar entry sparks row over minor rape survivor’s footage
Times of India | 12 March 2024
Kolkata: ‘To Kill a Tiger’ — the Jharkhand-based Oscar entry this year about a man’s fight for justice after his 13-year-old daughter was gang-raped — has sparked controversy moments after its OTT release on Sunday. Activists and documentary makers are divided over Nisha Pahuja’s documentary revealing the face of the rape survivor and the interview of her when she was still a minor, since it allegedly violates India’s Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso Act).The documentary lost out at the Academy Awards to ‘20 Days in Mariupol’ on Monday.
The survivor’s name has been changed in the documentary, which runs a disclaimer stating that she is “one of a handful of survivors who chose to reveal their identity. She did so after watching her 13-year-old self in this film. Her parents fully support her decision. After consulting extensively with women’s rights activists in India, the film-makers decided to reveal her”.
However, some people have raised concerns, saying Pocso permits a child survivor’s identity to be revealed only with the written consent of a special court.
Leena Gangopadhyay, chairperson of West Bengal Commission for Women, said, “The trauma of a rape survivor remains forever. I laud the courage of the girl who, after turning 18, agreed to reveal her identity. But apart from the court, no one can give permission to shoot it when she is a minor. No film-maker in Bengal should follow this precedent and begin shooting with a minor without taking the permission of the court.”
Director Sudeshna Roy, the advisor for WBPCR, also said consent from the special court is required for filming a minor in such a case.
Documentary film-maker Moupia Mukherjee, who has been working as a gender consultant, said, “Consent from the survivor and the family to shoot should be obtained without any pressure or misinformation.”