Famous entertainment channel fined for airing vulgar rape scene

A famous cable and satellite channel has been fined Rs 2.5 lakh by the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) for depicting a rape sequence that included several vulgar dialogues. Along with the fine, the channel has also been ordered to telecast a 30-second apology video before each episode for a week (September 23 – September 28).

Three of the episodes that aired in May contained the rape sequence where the female antagonist of the show hires a few men to rape her sister. One of the men, however, rapes and also asks his men to follow suit. The dialogue of the female antagonist, as reported by a news agency, goes as follows. “Listen carefully. The girl you are going to rape is unmarried, a virgin. When you rape her, there should be no mercy or pity in your heart. You should not think that we are doing this to Roja Madam’s sister, she who has paid us. There should be no pity at all. However much she wails, there should be no pity, kindness or mercy. Do you understand?”

The leader responds, “I listened to everything you said and imbibed it in my mind – did you think that was for your sister? All that you described is going to happen to you.” Upon being sent a notice by the BCCC based on viewers’ complaints, the channel responded by saying that the show was a “fictional family-oriented serial that emphasized moral values and good ethics of family and women.”