Ontoraler Kotha : A clarion call against gender violence

A scene from the serial

The story revolves around Akashi, a mother of two. Unfortunately her younger son, Dulal is slow to speak and his physical growth is also below par. When Akashi takes Dulal to hospital, the doctors inform her that when she was pregnant with Dulal, her husband Akram used to strike her, which indirectly affected Dulal. To make Akram a more responsible father, he is advised to go in for counselling.

"Such gruesome stories are not the products of a feverish imagination but rooted in hard reality," says Fuad Chowdhury, managing director of United Network Ltd (UNL), which has produced several documentaries and other television programmes based upon human rights issues. Amplifying on the 26-episode TV serial, Chowdhury says, "Our main objective is to generate awareness and minimise violence against women. To lend a touch of authenticity, even the conversations are derived from inputs by the family."

The first part of Ontoraler Kotha depicts how the nature of violence increases. At this point sociologists and psychologists come in and explain to the audience how such violence should have been identified by the women before and preempted. In addition to identifying the nature of violence, the attempt is to break through the wall of silence that surrounds such cases by prodding the affected family to speak out to the authorities such as police, NGOs and government agencies that work on women and gender issues. The serial subsequently gets legal inputs from lawyers who deal with the case.

The credit for the serial also goes to its funders, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Their agenda, says Chowdhury, was to highlight these issues as awareness campaign material.

Ontoraler Kotha has received a tremendous response. The UNL office has been flooded with phone calls from the public and many people want their story to be told. "Structurally the format is new because we have dramatised the incidents," says Chowdhury.

UNL has completed 15 episodes so far. Each episode is 23-25 minutes long. It is broadcast every Tuesday on Channel i at 6.20 pm. The organisation has shot six more episodes, which are in the process of being edited. Likewise, five episodes have been researched and scripted so far.

The researchers have painstakingly ferreted out true stories through their dialogues with NGOs and strenuous grassroots work. Ontoraler Kotha is a valuable serial for anyone concerned or affected by gender violence.