New Delhi: Mehreen Pirzada, an actor and model who recently made her OTT debut in Milan Luthria’s web series 'Sultan of Delhi,' has slammed a section of the mainstream media and social media for describing marital rape scene in the series as a "sex scene."
The actress who plays the character of Sanjana in the web series wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), "Recently I made my OTT Debut in the web series, “Sultan of Delhi” on Disney Hotstar. I hope my fans have enjoyed watching the series. Sometimes scripts demand certain actions which might go against your own morals. As a professional actor who considers acting an art and at the same time a job, one has to do certain scenes which are not palatable if they are part of the story’s narrative."
She continued, "There was a scene in ‘Sultan of Delhi’ that depicted a brutal marital rape. It pains me to see that a serious issue like marital rape has been described by many in the media as a "sex scene." This trivializes something that is a serious issue that many women the world over are currently dealing with."
"It disturbs me that a certain section of the media and people on social media have picked up on this; these people should understand that they have sisters and daughters too, and I pray to God they never have to go through such trauma in their own lives, as just the thought of such brutality and violence against women is repugnant," she further said.
She wrote at the end of the post that "as an actor, it's my job to do justice to the role, and the team at ‘Sultan of Delhi’, helmed by Milan Luthria Sir, was extremely professional in making sure that we as actors were at no point uncomfortable or exposed during the shooting of some very difficult scenes. I hope as an artist to do my best in every role for my audience, be it Mahalakshmi, Sanjana, or Honey."
"Peace & Love to all of you," she concluded.
The series, which was released on Disney+ Hotstar on October 13, stars Mehreen as the love interest of actor Tahir Raj Bhasin's character, Arjun Bhatia. The series revolves around the year 1962 in the city of Delhi and is based on Arnab Ray’s novel, “Sultan of Delhi: Ascension”.
The show features a large cast of actors, including Tahir Raj Bhasin, Mouni Roy, Anjum Sharma, Vinay Pathak, Anupriya Goenka, Nishant Dahiya, Mehreen Pirzada, Harleen Sethi, and many more. The series made its debut on Disney+ on October 13, 2023.
In September, the Supreme Court had said it would list pleas on the issue of marital rape for hearing in mid-October.
The pleas raise the legal question of whether a husband enjoys immunity from prosecution for the offence of rape if he forces his wife, who is not a minor, to have sex.