Film shows mother's rape in India

Film shows mother's rape in India

Nita Bhalla, Reuters/Bombay

An Indian author is making a film about the gang rape of his
mother, a well-known 1970s model, to show victims are not just
the poor and powerless as the country comes to terms with a
series of brutal rapes in recent months.

The film, Beautiful Ugly, documents events 28 years ago
leading up to and after the gang rape of Sheila Ray, who never
reported the crime. She died in 1990 aged 44.

"I want this film to show that rape also happens in the so-
called glamour world of films and modelling and is not just
something that happens on the streets and villages of India,"
Ashok Banker told Reuters in an interview.

"She was gang-raped by four men during a party and then dumped
outside her home in the early hours of the morning."

"She didn't report it to the police fearing that she would be
stigmatised and her career would suffer, but in the end she
suffered as it drove her to having a nervous breakdown and her
career never recovered."

Activists say a woman is raped every 30 minutes in India, with
the majority of cases going unreported. National Crime Records
Bureau data show more than 18,100 people were tried for rape in
2003, with just 4,645 convicted.

Banker, who was 12 years old at the time of the rape, said he
spent years researching what happened to his mother and
discovered many women working in India's Bollywood film and
glamour industry have been sexually assaulted, yet remain silent.

CONSERVATISM AND FEAR

He said a combination of conservatism and fear still prevails
in the country, despite the lavish, liberal lifestyle of a
growing number of socialites who spend their time at cocktail
parties in five-star hotels and exclusive nightclubs.

"Although rape is now a much more talked about issue in India,
still women face the possibility of being ostricised from their
social circles and in the workplace, even in more liberal, urban
societies," said Banker, a well-known author of fantasy novels.

"But more importantly, many of these rapists are well-known,
high-profile men, and victims not only fear they would jeopardise
their careers by reporting to the police but also that police
will not take action against these high-level people," he added.

Thousands of young women flock to Bombay from all over India
every year, hoping to make it big as a Bollywood heroine or a
catwalk model. But with competition so high, many end up in dance
bars, performing for men for money, or even as prostitutes.

Banker said he hoped the film would be released by September
in time for its screening at the Sundance Film Festival.
He said even though Beautiful Ugly was not a typical Bollywood
blockbuster, he believed it would attract much attention in and
outside of India because of its unusual content.

"I don't expect this movie to be a money spinner, but I hope
that views can be changed and these high-profile men who work in
the industry realise that they no longer can take advantage of
young women and get away with it," Banker said.

REUTERS

GetRTR 3.00 -- JUN 21, 2005 14:12:54