Oscar-nominated documentary faces flak over filming minor rape survivor
Times of India | 12 March 2024
KOLKATA: Oscar-nominated documentary feature 'To Kill a Tiger', which chronicles a Jharkhand father's fight to get justice for his gang-raped teenage daughter, has been accused of violating the Pocso Act by revealing the survivor's face during an interview with her when she was still a minor.
The controversy triggered by the documentary's OTT release on Sunday coincided with it losing the Oscar race to Ukraine's '20 Days in Mariupol' at the Academy Awards on Monday.
Activists and filmmakers are divided over Canadian-Indian Nisha Pahuja's documentary showing the survivor's face, although her name has been changed. The documentary ends with the disclaimer that she is "one of a handful of survivors who chose to reveal their identity" 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 filmmakers decided to reveal her," it states.