Documenting Kausalya’s fight for justice

In March 2016, Kausalya and her husband Shankar were brutally attacked on a crowded street in Udumalpet, Tirupur district. Shankar, who came from a lower caste, died of injuries. Kausalya survived and accused her parents of orchestrating an honour killing. Thanks to her bravery, the Tirupur principal court awarded death sentence to six persons, including Kausalya’s father. 

Sadhana Subramaniam, a filmmaker, has come up with a 25-minute documentary, India’s Forbidden Love: An Honour Kill ing on Trial, based on Kausalya’s journey leading up to the court verdict. In a candid chat with DTNext, Sadhana opens up about the documentary, the reason for filming the sensational case and various challenges she faced. 

“Two years ago, I came across the CCTV footage of the brutal attack on Shankar and Kausalya. My gut instinct was that, if handled sensitively and responsibly, this honour killing had the power to reveal something really important about both the deep-rooted caste system in India and the aspirations of a new generation. That’s when I decided to make a documentary to reveal the ugly face of casteism in the country,” says Sadhana.

The filmmaker needed access to both Kausalya and also her family. “Usually, it’s almost impossible to get the victim’s side of the story as they either don’t survive or are forced to go back to their families. I first approached Kausalya through a local journalist friend and explained the idea of making a film about her fight. I had also informed her that I’ll be following her for about 10 months and much to my surprise, she agreed to it. In Kausalya, I found a brave young woman, campaigning for justice and over time, she has transformed into a wonderful human being,” reminisces Sadhana. 

It took her a couple of months to convince Kausalya’s family to be a part of the project. Like any other accused, they were worried about the repercussions. “I approached the family through the defence lawyer AP Jayachandran and assured him that the film will be made from a fair perspective. Moreover, I gave this as a platform for both the parties to express and guaranteed that nothing would be manipulated,” explains the filmmaker.

Prior to the shooting (the film was shot for 12 months), Sadhana got permission from all the concerned departments. Regardless of it, many questions were thrown at her and the main two, according to her, was — ‘Whose side you’re going to film? and ‘What caste do you belong to?’. “Obviously, I was irked. But, you cannot fight these things. Being a filmmaker I shouldn’t get offended by such questions and should accept the ground reality. Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in,” she adds.

Every day was a new challenge and a new adventure for her. The crucial part was that Sadhana had to keep the information shared confidentially. Says she, “It was quite taxing and I was emotionally exhausted. I began to understand the perspectives of those involved and realised that even as India hurtles towards modernity, many traditional attitudes maintain a tight grip on sections of society.”

The documentary was shot for Al Jazeera’s Witness, a documentary series channel. Unfortunately, the director couldn’t find any takers in Indian television. “When it comes to issues like caste, Indian media is very sceptical. I approached a couple of channels, but they labelled the film as controversial.” 

Sadhana hopes that this film will help to raise awareness of the issues surrounding honour killing and caste discrimination. “I believe that only by showing the devastating human impact of such hate crimes can the issue be properly debated, understood and, ultimately, resolved,” she signs off.