It’s been an explosive week in the media regarding the #MeToo movement in India, with Bollywood
actress Tanushree Dutta revealing the details of the sexual abuse she faced on the 2008 set of film
Horn Ok by fellow co-actor Nana Patekar. Now, with multiple Bollywood actresses joining the chorus of
testimonies on their past experiences on the casting couch, many academics across the world are
claiming that a Harvey Weinstein style moment has now reached India!
But largely unknown to many, there is an impressive homegrown #MeToo revolution that has been taking
place in India for some time. Away from the glamour and notoriety of Bollywood many have been trying to
bring attention to the systemic violence facing women and children across the country ever since the
Joyti Singh incident.
In a year when 8-year-old Asifa Bano was abducted, tortured and brutally gang-raped in a temple in
Kathua (triggering mass protests across India) and in Patna at Balika Sudhar Grih, Mujaffarpur, a boy was
sexually abused for 20 days by a police officer before being caught, there is no wonder that India is finally
feeling it’s #MeToo rage!
“Navratri is a perfect reason for us to talk honestly about the real need for a #MeToo movement in India”
says Singer/songwriter Atul Kumar Singh (AKS)
According to The National Crime Records Bureau report, a woman in India is raped every 20 minutes
amounting to 264,130 cases per year while other reports indicate that a child is abused every 15 minutes.
A 2007 study conducted by India’s ministry of women and child development further confirmed that 53%
of children surveyed said they had been subjected to some form of sexual abuse.
To raise awareness of the scale of these crimes in India, Singer/songwriter Atul Kumar Singh (AKS)
released a powerful song yesterday called DEVI [Goddess with a broken heart], a fierce call to action
against child abuse, rape, sexual harassment and gender-based violence.
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogwzRj8XdZ0
With lyrics screaming “Let me be human”, DEVI [Goddess with a Broken Heart] challenges every woman
and girl to be seen as human and is one of the first songs of its kind coming out of India highlighting
India’s #MeToo and #TimesUp movement.
“As a survivor of child abuse myself, I really hope that this song and the accompanying video creates a
sense of urgency in our nation to tackle these issues head on. Too often we blame the victims and create
shame around their experiences, so their stories remain buried from our social consciousness. It is only
the most brutal and shocking stories that ever get any attention”, Atul explains.
Atul continues “There is hypocrisy in our nation if on one hand we worship the female form as a goddess
but treat the living flesh woman and girls with such contempt.”
Accompanied by a powerful video by Suraj Deep and Mad Angle Productions, DEVI [Goddess with a
broken heart] depicts the outrage of a Devi on hearing of the sexual assault and abuse of children and
women on earth.
The video starts by showing a young innocent girl being led away down a pathway of bloodied footprints,
later sitting under the shower alone crying in pain. Hearing the girls cries the Devi is seen tearing off her
crown and jewellery to prepare herself for the battlefields where she will take a stand against
gender-based violence see .
To speak out against gender based violence and violence against children, please share this video on
your social media with a simple caption “I stand with DEVI [Goddess with a broken heart] #MeToo
#TimesUP”
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atuls62
Instagram: – https://www.instagram.com/akson_official/
Twitter – @ATULKUMARATWPR
For further information about DEVI [Goddess with a Broken Heart] please contact
madangleproduction@gmail.com Video produced by Mad Angle Productions with the kind support of
TANISHA Interior & Decorators (Co-producer). All images courtesy of Atul Kumar Singh.