When a woman files a complaint
The
media
takes
up
the
issue
and
the
situation
turns
extremely
muddled.
Video
footages,
telephone
interviews,
debates,
discussions
on
why
Swetha
is/is
not
wrong
is
all
over
the
channels.
The
actress
is
visibly
shaken
and
48
hours
later,
the
drama
ends
with
Swetha
withdrawing
the
complaint.
The
incident
is
yet
another
study
on
how
we,
as
a
society,
behave
when
a
woman
decides
to
speak
up
against
a
man.
The actress, Swetha Menon, has won two state awards. She has done daring roles in films like 'Paleri Manikyam' and 'Rathi Nirvedam' and 'Ozhi muri'. Years ago, she'd won a beauty pageant, acted in a few Bollywood movies and appeared in a condom advertisement. In television interviews and on public forums, she has always maintained a well-composed, matured demeanour. She is frank, independent and had chosen to stay in the film field even after her marriage.
Now, when she faced a molestation in a public function, just like many women in India do everyday, her character was questioned. In social networking sites and many so-called news websites, the old condom ad surfaced. The moral-police began wondering why Swetha Menon is so shaken when an oldman tried to touch her.
Some of the websites published the news about Swetha's complaint with several 'hot' pictures of her, which they digged out from internet with lot of effort. Her husband's - the one who happily let his wife continue with her profession instead of asking her to sit at home and be a perfect Indian wife- morality was questioned in some Facebook pages.
In
Kerala,
there
is
a
very
famous
phrase
which
summarises
our
attitude
-
"Like
a
whore's
speech
on
morality"-
which
blatantly
means
a
woman
who
sells
her
body
for
a
living
can't
question
a
man
if
he
rapes
her/tries
to
rape
her.
This
phrase
was
seen
used
in
many
facebook
pages
to
emphasise
that
an
actress
who
has
played
roles
of
seductress
or
prostitute
in
her
films,
has
no
right
to
protest
when
a
man
tries
to
touch
her.
It
is
Swetha's
fault
if
the
man
tried
to
molest
her
because
she
has
acted
in
a
condom
ad
and
has
done
the
role
of
seductress
in
movies."Seeing
these
pictures,
how
can
one
not
try
to
molest
her?",
asks
a
malayalee
on
Facebook
and
his
voice
is
echoed
by
many
thousands
of
Malayalee
macho
men.
After all the protests held against rape and molestation, our society continues to believe it is the woman's fault if a man tried to rape/molest her.
The channels celebrated the news for 48 hours. They repeatedly telecasted the visuals of the function and established that the septuagenarian had in fact 'tried' once or twice to touch the actress. Discussions were held in order to decide if it is proper to file a complaint for such an insignificant matter. Actress was repeatedly asked to explain the incident in detail. And politicians from opposition parties jumped into the fray asking the septuagenarian to resign at once and face the music.
It was evident from the media responses that only a very few voices genuinely spoke for the actress and the rest were celebrating her plight. It actually shows how immature and barbaric our society is in handling a woman's issue. Is it really possible for a woman to sleep in peace after filing a complaint against a man for sexual harassment?
In this case, a devastated Swetha finally decided to put an end to the hooha and return to her peaceful life by withdrawing her complaint, accepting the politician's apology.
The hunters on Internet will now wait for their next prey and till then they will relish on 'Swetha Menon hot pics' on internet.