Portraying Rape Victims in dramas is a sensitive topic and it not only needs courage but also special attention to handle this topic. Here are some of the Pakistani dramas that have covered this sensitive issue of rape.
14) Naqab Zun:
Naqab Zun is about a girl whose brother-in-law (Aamir) rape her and she has no idea about it. The story is again of a psycho lover who is married but has an eye on his sister-in-law, he rapes her so that no one will agree to marry her.
This drama has many loopholes regarding the innocence or we dare to say foolishness of the character Dua who just sleeps beside her brother-in-law even after going through a tragic incident like rape. She even does not listen to her younger sister who knows about this heinous crime and warn Dua many times. The drama lacks many things and most importantly has weak content.
The drama Naqab Zun has so many weak characters including Dua. The acting is not that brilliant, only the girl who is playing Fariya character (the younger sister of Dua) is doing a good job. She has strong dialogue delivery. She also has a strong character who is not only pretty but also intelligent.
13) Sangat:
Starring famous names like Saba Qamar, Zahid Ahmed and Mikaal Zulfiqar, Sangat is about a woman who is raped by her cousin. She loves her future husband but this tragic incident changes her life. After her marriage, she has a daughter but that is not from her husband. She does not leave her daughter and fights for her.
The abuser tries to get back her daughter but the victim is not ready to give her to him. This drama is also about the courage of a man who finally supports his wife and accepts the daughter that is from rape. The drama ends with the happy couple and the death of the abuser played by Zahid Ahmed.
12) Ghayal:
This is the story of a woman who is raped because the man does not want her to marry someone else. In order to stop the marriage, he kidnaps her and rapes and threatens her. He also threatens her to marry him otherwise he will kill her family members. Starring Sumbal Iqbal and Gohar Mumtaz in lead roles this drama end on a happy note for the rape victim. she marries a nice man and the rapist meets his tragic end. Ghayaal also highlights that the parents of the abuser have no fault in the wrongdoing of their son.
11) Zakham:
Zakham focuses on marital rape which is still a topic many do not talk about because it is nothing for them. It is a common concept that after marriage, a wife has to do what the husband wants and her consent does not matter. It is about a man played by Faisal Qureshi who kills his first wife and then married her sister for the sake of the child.
The girl is in love with someone else but for the sake of the child of her sister, she agrees to marry her dead sister’s husband. Without her consent, he forcefully maintains a physical relationship with her or we can say rapes her. But she is not like her dead sister and does not remain quiet. She is successful to get rid of that man.
10) Bay Khudi:
Starring Noor Hassan and Sara Khan, Bay Khudi is about an obsessive lover who rapes the girl in order to stop her marriage. The man loves his cousin who has no idea about his feelings and loves someone else. Instead of accepting fate, he rapes her and no one knows about his crime.
Later he marries her and everyone considers him as a great man who marries to a girl who is raped, she also has a child from him. He does not tell anyone, the child grows up and everyone hates that child who is a daughter. The daughter also suffers because she is tagged as an illicit child. The man finally confesses his crime at the end, but the rape victim forgives him at the end.
9) Khuda Daikh raha hai:
This drama focuses again on marital rape but this time it is different in the way that a husband divorces his wife but then forcefully rapes her. It is the struggle of a woman played by Sajal Aly to get rid of her husband when no one believes her. A young girl and a musician love each other but the conservative mother does not allow this, she forces her daughter to marry someone else.
The husband turns out abusive and she faces the consequences of the bad decision. However, the misery is, no one from her family believes her when she tells them about the abusive behaviour or later about divorce and rape.
8) Haiwaan:
This drama focuses on child abuse and the purpose of the drama is to spread awareness among parents to keep a close eye on their child and their surroundings. Faisal Qureshi played the role of the abuser with perfection. Definitely this is the story of everyday life as we see and hear about these kinds of incidents daily.
7) Muqabil:
This drama highlights child abuse. A girl is raped by her driver in childhood but for revenge, after growing up, she marries his son. This is definitely a drama that we can call a sensitive or that drama that many will avoid watching as the abuser becomes father-in-law. Starring Kubra Khan, Mohsin Abbas and Asif Raza Mir, Muqabil definitely highlight a sensitive issue.
Kubra Khan is playing the role of the victim of child molestation and due to this childhood incident, she becomes reserve while her mother has no time to look after her. She marries to the son of a driver and later reveals that the only reason to marry him because she was molested in her childhood. Muqabil ends on a good note when rape victim finds happiness with her husband.
6) Meri Guriya:
This is based on child abuse, rapes and murders by an innocent-looking man. Later the women who are disturbed by constant incidents of rapes in their town and finally decide to take revenge and encourage other women of the town in this mission. The story focuses on this fact that these abusers are around us and hide under the mask of innocence and pity but in reality, they are devils. It also clears that an abuser remains an abuser after his marriage too.
5) Dastaan:
We have included Dastaan in this list too. No doubt, it is one of the best drama of Pakistan industry but we are putting it here because of the tragic story of Banu played by Sanam Baloch. Although the drama is based on the partition of Sub-continent, this drama portrays a woman Bano who is kidnapped and raped by a man.
She constantly tries to escape from him but eventually has a son with him. Finally, she escapes but becomes mentally disturbed and physically exhausted and at the end dies. The drama definitely has a sad ending as there is no justice for this rape victim and even her loved ones have no idea about her suffering. She is alone on the other side of the world suffering all alone, while her lover and his family think she is dead.
4) Chup Raho:
Sajal Aly played the role of a rape victim in Chup Raho. She played the character of Rameen who is raped and threatened by her brother-in-law played by Syed Jibran. They both did a fabulous job.
The girl senses in the first episode that something is not right with his brother-in-law. She is shown as a strong girl at the beginning of the drama whose circumstances led her to her sister’s house and later to rape.
In Chup Raho, Numair is impressed by Rameen’s beauty at first sight and later rape her to fulfil his lust. It shows us that when a man rapes or sexually assaults a woman or girl in the family how other members do not believe the victim. Moreover, when no one believes the victim, how her life can be hell.
The abuser wears the mask of a loving and caring husband who loves his wife and loyal to her but in reality rapes his sister-in-law and later proves her a mentally unstable person.
3) Drr si jati hai Sila:
One of the best dramas on this sensitive issue reveals that sometimes the rapist is from someone close and the victim is unable to tell anyone about him. Playing the role of abuse, this is one of the best performance of Yumna Zaidi and her final encounter with the rapist is also remarkable.
2) Ruswai:
One of the best drama where a rape victim is decided to get justice no matter what is, Ruswai. Although in the mid, the audience was hopeless regarding the progress of the story, but the ending serves its purpose. It is the story about a woman played by Sana Javed who is soon going to marry and is a doctor but becomes a victim of rape.
Her husband treats her worst after marriage and finally marry another woman. Her family suffers a lot that leads to her father death. Ruswai especially focuses on how much it is difficult for a rape victim to get justice because her family does not support her. She gets justice at the end and finds her happiness in it.
1: Udaari:
If we talk about those dramas that boldly cover the issue of child abuse, Udaari is one of them. A little girl is raped by her stepfather more than once. It is the struggle of a rape victim to get justice and one of the most heart touching story. This can be considered one of the best drama as the abuser does not commit this crime in hidden ways and he is not afraid that the law will punish him. This is one of the best drama of Ahsan Khan where he portrayed the role of the abuser with perfection.
Rape Victims and Survivors Dramas should be Handled Carefully:
Where some of the above-mentioned dramas have strong content and outstanding acting others cannot serve the purpose and do justice to rape victims. Whatever the similarities and differences are, if someone takes courage to make a drama on such a sensitive topic like rape victims and survivors, they should present in such a way that people learn a lesson from it. People should learn that if a girl is talking about such a heinous crime by someone there can be some possibility.
We like the way Dua’s character in Naqab Zun is shown as taking therapy from a psychiatrist but here again, her psychiatrist turns out her lover’s sister who does not like the idea of his brother marrying a rape victim. The whole essence of getting help is ruined again that people judge rape victims.
If drama makers claim that their dramas depict society, as we also believe that these kinds of incidents happen in real life. They should also put some elements that rape victims and survivors would be able to take courage to go to psychiatrists and tell their problems without fear.
It is true that in real life, it is very hard for rape victims to open up, as many times children face this crime at such an age when they have no idea about it. They are unable to tell what and who did this to them in fear or shame.
It is the duty of drama makers to put elements that encourage rape victims and survivors that it is not their fault and they can still be a useful member of society.
Note: The only purpose of the above post is to spread awareness regarding child abuse and rape and to stress on the fact that rape victims issue should handle with great attention.
