One day, in May 2013, filmmaker Megha Ramaswamy was reading a newspaper at her Mumbai home when she came across a news item about Preethi Rathi.
When the Delhi-based Preethi, 23, got down from the Garib Rath Express at the Bandra station, in Mumbai, her neighbour, Ankur Panwar, 23, a hotel management graduate, threw acid on her, according to the Mumbai Police. The reason: Ankur was jealous that Preethi had got a job, while he had not.
Preethi was to join a Naval hospital as a lieutenant nurse. The acid, however, severely damaged her lungs. On June 1, 2013, Preethi died in a Mumbai hospital.
“The nature of the crime was unsettling. I wanted to do something to stop this,” says Megha. So she became a volunteer with the Delhi-based NGO, Stop Acid Attacks. It was then that Megha came across other acid victims like Sapna, Nasreen and Laxmi Agarwal. As she interacted with them, Megha felt she should make a documentary. “A documentary is empowering,” says Megha. “It changes the way people think.”
The Hindi film, Newborns (with English subtitles), has been shot mostly in grey tones to convey the bleakness of the subject. But it was striking to see the calm look of Laxmi, when she revealed her scarred face. “Sometime last year, I got the courage to remove my veil and show my face in public,” says Laxmi. “So, I felt confident to be myself in Newborns.” This confident young woman is also a fighter. Acting on a PIL filed by her in 2006, the Supreme Court on July 18, 2013, ruled that the sale of acid should be regulated. In March this year, US First Lady Michelle Obama presented Laxmi with the International Women of Courage Award at Washington.
In an early scene from the film, which is set in a bus, in which Laxmi is travelling, there is a clown sitting behind her. This is played by Ship of Theseus actor Rupesh Tillu. “Megha wanted to show that, just like a clown, you don’t get to see their actual faces,” he says. “I hope this film will sensitise people about the horror of acid attacks.”
The statistics are, indeed, disturbing. According to Stop Acid Attacks, there are about a thousand incidents every year, out of which 76 per cent of the victims are women aged 21-30. Rejecting men’s advances is the main reason behind such attacks. These women, their lives ruined, get no medical insurance or jobs. Most of the time, they are shunned by society. “There is not enough sympathy shown to them,” says Megha.
Unfortunately, the number of attacks is on the rise. But the heartening news is that victims are coming forward. “More cases are being registered with the police,” says Laxmi.
Meanwhile, when Megha premiered Newborns at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, she was amazed at the reception it got. “The audience members hugged me, and some had tears in their eyes,” she says. “They wanted to know what they could do to prevent future happenings.”
In November, Newborns won the Jury Prize for Best Short Documentary at the third Delhi Shorts International Film Festival.
