On December 17, 2012, the country awoke to the shocking report of a 23-year-old physiotherapist, battling for her life, after being beaten and sexually assaulted by six men in Delhi. This case led to an outpouring of public anger and protests across the country, demanding better laws for the protection for women and speedier enforcement. The protests also led to a widespread public discourse about how women are treated in our society, and delivered the message that this treatment was not acceptable.
Among those who keenly watched this national movement were Pria Somiah Alva and her sister-in-law Manira Alva Pinto, both of whom hold senior positions at the production house Miditech. They sensed that this was a momentous development, one that needed to be documented. The result was a 45-minute film called Silent Screams, India’s Fight Against Rape for Channel NewsAsia, which has won Pria, the director, and Manira (who wrote it), several awards, including three medals at the prestigious New York Festival’s International Television & Film Awards.
“When news of this incident broke, we witnessed the anger and frustration at how, even in a city like Delhi, women are not safe,” Pria recalls. “And this anger did not die down in a day or two, but spread to the rest of the country. We were in talks with Channel NewsAsia to do a documentary that captured this mood which went beyond a single case, and suddenly changed how rape was talked about.”
While Pria and Manira knew that the film would centre on the girl’s story, they also wanted to capture this fight (of other survivors and the public) that was changing how rape was perceived. For the purpose of filming the documentary, Pria and Manira approached journalist Namita Bhandare, who had launched the “Stop Rape” campaign on the Web to support from 6,00,000 signatories, and travelled with her to different parts of India, examining what the ground reality was for survivors in the reactions they faced from the community, police and judiciary.
For Pria, this was the biggest challenge as a filmmaker, To make Silent Screams a story about the brave fight by survivors for justice against all odds. And while the courage of all the survivors they met was inspiring, one particular story that affected Pria deeply was that of a 16-year-old Dalit girl in Haryana, one among the 19 cases of Dalit girls raped in the state in just a month.
“She was like any other 16-year-old, excited about school, friends, a better future. But her life changed dramatically when she was picked up and raped by two upper caste men while she was on her way to school. Now, she is confined at home, scared she will be attacked again. But she is not intimidated. She wants her rapists to go to jail. Her father has been offered Rs 60 lakh to withdraw the case, but she is adamant about wanting justice. She told us, ‘My life has been ruined because they raped me. The only thing I have is my respect. If I withdraw the case, I will lose even that respect’. Being the mother of a son and daughter myself, I was moved to tears when I heard her say this,” recounts Pria.
What all of the survivors Pria met wanted was for their communities, police and judiciary to be sensitive to their trauma, and for their rapists to be treated as criminals. Silent Screams is definitely a step in that direction. When Rajasthan Governor (and Pria’s mother-in-law) Margaret Alva saw the film, she spoke about the need for states to set up centres that would provide survivors of rape with support, treatment and legal advice. Pria also feels that such one-stop centres will go a long way in ensuring that survivors come forward and get the justice they seek. “What survivors want,” Pria says, “is to be heard without being humiliated.”
Pria’s own efforts to highlight violence against women continue. Miditech has already produced another documentary, Silent Screams: Freedom to Love, which exposes the practice of honour killings in India. “From our very first film at Miditech, we’ve always had a strong stance on socially-relevant films,” Pria says. “Today, we may produce reality, fiction and entertainment shows, but we continue to nurture strong, message-driven films and series. We… are committed to featuring strong issues that affect our communities.”
