Veteran actor Shabana Azmi has voiced her strong condemnation following the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata earlier this month. Speaking to the media in Pune after attending an event, Azmi expressed deep concern over the continued violence against women in India, emphasizing the urgent need to challenge and dismantle entrenched patriarchal norms.
“This incident is extremely dangerous and disheartening,” Azmi remarked, as quoted by news agency ANI. “It’s embarrassing to see that such heinous acts have not diminished, even after the formation of the Justice Verma Committee in 2012, following the Nirbhaya case. We must stop treating women as commodities and work towards dismantling the deep-rooted patriarchy in our society.”
The Justice Verma Committee was established in response to the 2012 Delhi gang rape, with the aim of strengthening laws to protect women. Despite these efforts, the recent tragedy in Kolkata has sparked outrage and raised concerns about the effectiveness of existing measures to ensure women’s safety.
Earlier this week, President Droupadi Murmu also expressed her distress over the rising cases of crimes against women in light of the Kolkata incident. In an open letter titled “Women’s Safety: Enough is Enough,” President Murmu urged for self-reflection and a deeper understanding of the underlying causes of violence against women. She emphasized the need for society to confront its collective memory of criminality and to search within its soul to address the pathology of such crimes.
The incident, which occurred on August 9 at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, has led to widespread protests, with the public demanding severe punishment for the perpetrators and improved safety measures for women. Celebrities across India, including Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Ayushmann Khurrana, have joined the chorus of voices condemning the act.
Inaddition to her activism, Azmi recently appeared in the sports drama film “Ghoomer” (2023), directed by R Balki, where she starred alongside Abhishek Bachchan and Saiyami Kher.
