DAILY DOSE By Bikram Vohra
The fact is a complaint has been made to the police and they will have to act on it. This is not some village woman they can ignore (or rape while she is waiting) this is a high profile film actress accusing a high profile boyfriend in a very public scenario.
She has every right as a citizen to make her case if she feels so threatened. Being famous does not exclude you from that right. The only concern is that in a nation reeling from almost a daily blast of rape and assault on women when you take two weeks to put a case against a boyfriend predicated to ugly language and a push and a nudge in the presence of others you trivialize the real victims and their trauma. And they are enough of those these days.
Since none of us are in her shoes it is difficult to assess her level of fear. We do not know the details but going from what has been reported this is not molestation. It is bad conduct, harassment, even intimidation but in a stadium full of people with a list of witnesses already identified it was clearly an embarrassing spat between two people once (so I am told) supposedly going around together. She was not in danger, she was not helpless, she had protection, dozens of burly men who walk with her and push people out of the way at cricket stadiums to allow her to pass by.
To that extent she was protected. But even those who might mock the frailty of the complaint have to understand the right to complain is inviolate. She has it in toto. Because if you detract from that right on grounds of fame or fortune then you constitutionally wrong her.
My only point is that I hope any celebrity who does this does it after great thought. You get the attention, you indict another person (even if you deny that, the damage is done) and you set a standard because people are listening. What you are doing if you are doing it for the wrong reasons is betraying all those broken women who scream silently because no one hears them. And that is a big price to pay for a bruised ego.
You will be heard.That is your power. let us hope you did not misuse it.