KALAVI VIDEO SPARKS OUTRAGE OVER NON-CONSENSUAL ASSAULT; WOMEN’S GROUPS TELL IT WRONG

 KALAVI VIDEO SPARKS OUTRAGE OVER NON-CONSENSUAL ASSAULT; WOMEN’S GROUPS TELL IT WRONG

Video shows a 20 plus old guy assaulting a 40 plus married housewife aunty, touching her breasts 17 times and kissing her for 10 seconds.

CHENNAI SAIDAPET - 15.11.2008

A video clip circulating on the Internet and in mobile phone shops in Chennai Parrys Corner has sparked widespread outrage among women’s groups and civil society organisations in the city. The video, reportedly filmed without the woman’s consent, shows a young man assaulting a middle-aged woman - pulling her thaali (mangalasoothiraa) and dropping it into her blouse, groping her breasts repeatedly, and kissing her for over 10 seconds.

According to sources, the video was being sold as a CD for ₹100 in mobile phone shops in Parrys Corner.  It later surfaced on the Internet, where it has been viewed thousands of times. The video has been described by several commentators as “one of the most disturbing examples of digital sexual violence” in recent Tamil internet history.

The sequence of events

The video begins with the man, told as Kannan, entering the woman’s house. The woman, Vanaja, is alone. He pulls the thaali from her neck and drops it into her left blouse. When he tries to retrieve it, his hand gets “stuck”. He presses repeatedly, and the woman’s large breasts cause his hand to slip.

The woman crosses her arms over her chest in a defensive gesture. He removes her arms and grabs her left breast. He squeezes her left breast four times with both hands. He then grabs both breasts and presses the right breast three times. He presses the left breast twice and leans her against him. He looks around her left breast, kisses it, and presses it once.

The camera then rotates. The woman is seen burying her face in his lap. At that moment, he smiles at the camera and adjusts his hair.

After she gets up, he positions the camera towards her. He grabs both her breasts and presses them five times. He bends down, kisses her stomach twice, and lightly kisses her left breast once.

He then holds her breast and kisses her for 10 seconds. He pulls her close, lays her down, kisses her stomach once softly, and squeezes both her breasts three times.

He turns the camera towards her again. She slaps the camera away. He presses her breasts three times. When he adjusts the camera again, she slaps it away again. When he repositions it, she slaps it away once more.

Finally, he positions the camera, lays her down, squeezes her left breast five times, and sucks it for 7 seconds. The woman then appears to enter a “mood”. She pulls his shirt, leans her neck back, holds his left breast, kisses his neck, and squeezes his left breast three times. He grabs her left breast with both hands and squeezes it five times. He kisses her lips once. She leans back, he leans over her, embraces her, and moves his hips. She holds him.

The video ends with the man asking her to fetch him tea.

The Statistics

According to an analysis of the video, the man kissed her 3 times, pressed her breasts 8 times, squeezed her breasts 6 times, sucked her breasts 17 times (left breast - 15, right breast - 2).

Women’s groups react

“This is a private video. It appears to have been filmed without the woman’s consent. The woman resisted - she crossed her arms, she slapped the camera away. But the man did not stop. This is not entertainment. This is assault,” said a member of a Chennai-based women’s collective. The fact that this video is being sold for ₹100 in mobile shops shows how normalized sexual violence has become. Another activist said: “The woman’s resistance is visible throughout the video. She crossed her arms. She slapped the camera. But the man continued. This is a clear case of non-consensual assault.”

The last word

The thaali is a sacred symbol for married women in Tamil Nadu. But in this video, it is used as a tool of assault. The woman’s resistance, her crossed arms and her slaps at the camera are visible. But so is her eventual silence. That silence is not consent. It is survival.

The intimacy images