A veterinarian gets raped and brutally killed in Hyderabad. Days later, a filmmaker from her state suggests women carry condoms with them to avoid rape. Is there anything called 'consensual rape?'
Telugu filmmaker Daniel Shravan thinks carrying condoms can save women from getting killed after rape because his "simple logic" is when the sexual desire of men is fulfilled, they won't kill the women.
Even as the whole nation is fighting for stricter laws to punish rapists, Daniel is of the view that "legalising rape without violence" is the only way women can be saved from murder.
In a Facebook post that he shared, he wrote "rape is not a serious thing but, murder is inexcusable," appealing (probably to rapists?) to "avoid killing after rape."
If you all thought rapists were the reason for rapes, Daniel has other ideas. He blames women's organisations and society because they inspire rapists to think evil apparently. If the law can excuse rape, they would not kill women after sexually assaulting them, he claims.
The filmmaker stated that the solution to rapes is to educate "girls above 18" about them, adding that "girls should not deny sexual desires of men." He cites examples too, saying, "It is foolishness that killing Laden will control smuggling, killing Veerappan will control terrorism. In the same way, 'Nirbhaya Act' cannot control rapes with violence." While everyone believes only love and peace can heal the world, for the filmmaker, women accepting "men's sex" (read rape) is the way to reduce violence.
Since every line he wrote is problematic on multiple levels, you can read his full post on reducing 'rape crimes' here:
This earned the ire of netizens who ripped into him on social media for his shocking post, which he took down eventually. On receiving flak for his post, he tried to play it down saying it was a dialogue suggestion for his upcoming movie. But, even making a movie with such ideas is sick. Isn't it? He also disabled his social media accounts shortly afterwards.
Here are some of the reactions on social media strongly condemning the statements of the filmmaker:
In a screenshot shared by singer Chinmayi, the filmmaker had replied to one of the comments on his post saying he will suggest the same idea even to his family members if they ever face a similar situation.
Many other netizens took to social media to blast the filmmaker for his post.