(This story was first published on 22 November 2017. It has been republished from The Quint’s archives in light of the Supreme Court asking a rape accused if he will marry the survivor.)
Legal Inputs: Vakasha Sachdev
Puppeteer: Rohit Dholi and Raj Kumar Bhat
Multimedia Producer and Video Editor: Kunal Mehra
Cameraperson: Abhay Sharma, Athar Rathar
For long kathputli, a theatre form native to Rajasthan – which makes use of string puppets to provide authentic, homegrown entertainment – has been used to drive home important social messages. Here, it’s being used as a potent tool to talk about consent to Indian audiences in the digital age.
Because we can’t afford to be ignorant – or claim ignorance – about the word.
Before we proceed, here is a quick refresher course on consent:
1. Consent has to be unequivocal
2. It has to be taken for each specific sexual act.
3. A marriage certificate doesn’t automatically mean a lifetime of consent.
4. No. Means. No.
5. Even if gotten earlier, consent can at any time be revoked.
6. A drunk ‘yes’ may not always mean a ‘yes’.
And the final one: A lack of sexual consent is rape.
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