Sexual assault survivors should speak out, it should be normalised: Actor Bhavana

Kochi: Ending her five-year-long silence, Malayalam actor Bhavana Menon, the survivor in a 2017 sexual assault case, on Sunday said that the practice of a survivor coming out in the open and speaking about the trauma they went through should be normalised.

This is the first time Bhavana is speaking on video about the incident and how it turned her world upside down.

The actor was speaking to journalist Barkha Dutt at the Global Townhall 2022 event that celebrates women, hosted by The Mojo Story. She spoke about breaking her silence on her sexual assault in the 'We the Women' programme.

The 35-year-old actor who recalled the trauma of being hounded repeatedly even after the assault said she was devastated and that her dignity has been shredded to a million pieces.

Giving due credit to her support system comprising her husband, family members and friends and above all to the public who rallied behind her, the actor said that it was her sheer willpower that keeps her going, the News Minute reported.

When asked where she draws her courage from, she said "it makes me very angry and very sad (that perpetrators of sexual assault get rehabilitated)… It's not every day that I feel empowered and ready to fight. So many days, I have wanted to give up… We must normalise the idea of the person who has gone through a trauma coming out in public and voicing it out. We must normalise that as a society, normalise that courage."

The actor was kidnapped and assaulted by a group of men in February 2017 while she was travelling from Thrissur to Kochi. The investigation led to Dileep, one of the Malayalam industry's biggest actors, being named as an accused.

The actress also spoke about the constant finger-pointing that followed in the days after the incident.

"When it happened, my whole life turned upside down. My mind was constantly searching for somebody or something I can put the blame on. It was constant chaos in my mind… Why did this happen? Why me?… So many questions…''

As per an Indian Express report, the actor also recalled how she was in the courtroom for 15 days in 2020 from morning till evening. Each time a lawyer cross-examined her -- and she was quizzed by a battery of seven lawyers -- she had to prove that she was innocent.

"When my trial (in the court) happened, I had to go to court for 15 days. It was a different, dramatic experience altogether. On the 15th day of the trial, I came out of the court feeling like a survivor. I realised that I am a survivor, not a victim anymore. I am not just standing up for myself, (but) also for the dignity of all the girls who come after me. That was the time my mind convinced me that I am a survivor, not a victim.''

Earlier, she penned a long not on Instagram and had written, "This has not been an easy journey. The journey from being a victim to becoming a survivor. For five years now, my name and my identity have been suppressed under the weight of the assault inflicted on me."

She further wrote, "Though I am not the one who had committed the crime, there have been many attempts to humiliate, silence, and isolate me. But at such times I have had some who stepped forward to keep my voice alive. Now when I hear so many voices speak up for me I know that I am not alone in this fight for justice."

Bhavana said the perpetrators were insulting her on social media after the traumatic incident and added that after the incident she was denied acting jobs in the Malayalam film industry. The notable exceptions were directors such as Aashiq Abu and Shaji Kailas, actor-turned-director Prithviraj, and actor Jayasurya.