A new web series that confronts marital rape in India has put the spotlight on the grim topic in a country that has stubbornly refused to criminalise it.
Chiraiya – the Hindi word for small birds – aired on JioHotstar in March. It has already drawn an audience of millions, making it one of the network’s most popular Hindi shows in months.
Praised by media critics for confronting a subject that is largely seen as taboo, it has sparked conversations on social media about consent and misogyny. At the same time, some commentators have described it as “anti-men” and “an attempt to undermine the sanctity of marriage”.
Divy Nidhi Sharma, the show’s scriptwriter, says the series follows two women, Kamlesh and Pooja.
Kamlesh, played by Divya Dutta, is a middle-aged homemaker who firmly believes “women should be interested in cooking and housework”. Pooja, played by Prasanna Bish, is educated, socially conscious and talks about gender equality and dignity.
Their worlds collide when Pooja marries Arun – Kamlesh’s brother-in-law that she reared as her own son. He is seen as the perfect match for Pooja, but her dreams of a happily ever after are shattered when he rapes her on their wedding night.
When she confronts him, Arun tells her he has “just taken what’s mine”.
“Why do you keep repeating that I raped you?” he says, adding that marital rape is not a crime in India and there is no law to deal with it.
