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A woman had to tend to her husband's fragile ego after her attempted rape in Aitebaar and that's not okay

A woman had to tend to her husband's fragile ego after her attempted rape in Aitebaar and that's not okay

Viewers are repulsed by the scene and have taken to Twitter to call out the Hum TV drama for victim blaming.
01 Feb, 2022

The Pakistani drama industry has been criticised many a time for not dealing with sensitive issues with enough care and encouraging problematic behaviour instead. Drama Aitebaar released its second episode on Jan 31 and the way it depicted the aftermath of an attempted rape has netizens furious. The traumatised wife played by Zarnish Khan tries to make her husband (Syed Jibran) 'feel better' after she escaped a kidnapping and attempted rape but he refuses to believe her innocence.

The scene shows Khan telling her husband she escaped before anything could happen and asking him for support. However, he refuses to believe anything she says and throws a fit instead. He also makes the assumption that she has been raped and says he can't face her because "another man has touched" her.

Netizens are not okay with this show of toxicity. One user said she usually supports dramas based on rape victims but our drama industry has a toxic way of portraying survivors that ends in the woman spending "her whole life proving her innocence to everyone around her."

This user had a question about what the man had lost in the entire ordeal, especially compared to the woman's trauma. "Why is the man’s feelings even in the equation?" she asked.

Funny how the drama is labelled Aitebaar yet there is no trust between the spouses, as pointed out by this user.

Someone pointed out that even if she had been raped, it would not have been her fault. They picked on Khan's dialogue, "Mein abhi bhi wohi Pari hun [I am still the same Pari]," to highlight the fact that people don't become lesser versions of themselves even after they are subjected to violence.

Some recalled other dramas with similar plot lines. This user said a drama she watched with such a story caused her to stop watching Pakistani dramas entirely.

One user pointed out that Hum TV has the least "chawal [foolish]" dramas and made a special mention of one particular drama that has been on everyone's minds when it comes to toxicity for comparison. "Like all Hum TV's chawal drama combined are no match for Aye Musht-e-Khaak."

Aye Musht-e-Khaak is led by Feroze Khan who glorifies violence and rage in the name of love and has several scenes featuring graphic violence.

More users were reminded of dramas where "izzat [honour]" was prioritised over logic, sense and the truth.

Some just labelled the drama ridiculous.

Netizens also gave the producers of the show a piece of their minds under the video on Instagram, mad at Hum TV for promoting a negative message that may lead to dire consequences in real life.

In general, Pakistan needs a crash course on how to talk about rape. PM Imran Khan has faced backlash several times and been called a rape apologist. Talk show host Nida Yasir was criticised for asking insensitive questions from the parents of a young girl who was raped and murdered and the media as a whole needs to report rape with empathy rather than salacious intent.

Rape is never the fault of the victim and showing a husband who can't even look his wife in the eye after she survived an attempted rape is pathetic. Our society needs to understand that you can't blame the victim and you can't treat them like pariahs because it wasn't and will never be their fault. The entertainment industry would do well to show characters who are empathetic and supportive rather than men who need to be coddled after their wives go through something traumatic because of their fragile male egos.

Comments

Dr. Ahmed Feb 01, 2022 06:21pm
Are we again jumping to the conclusion yet again without watching what happens next? These twitter elites had been wrong before. clickbait.
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John Feb 01, 2022 06:42pm
This shows the true nature of Pakistani men
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Masood Haider Feb 01, 2022 06:48pm
HUM's preponderance of really repulsive themed dramas and others with absolutely idiotic plots never ceases to amaze me. The wealthy, supposedly enlightened owners of the network ought to know better and deliver better.
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Ibrahim S Feb 01, 2022 06:51pm
Let’s hear from the religious mafia and their disciples to comment on this social and criminal case study .
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Akil Akhtar Feb 01, 2022 06:58pm
Pakistani society does not seem to know what is right or wrong....
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Saeed Feb 01, 2022 08:32pm
Our own PM does victim shaming so why are we surprised.
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Azmat Hasan Feb 01, 2022 08:59pm
Victim needs more support.
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Azmat Hasan Feb 01, 2022 09:00pm
Victim needs more support
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Soniye Tu Auder Te La Feb 01, 2022 09:22pm
A lot of women would hide such information from their husband, even if they were raped in captivity.
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Nadeem Batt Feb 01, 2022 09:40pm
Just like he blames her unfairly now all men will be blamed for having this attitude just because one drama has portrayed so
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Adeel Feb 01, 2022 11:20pm
Pakistani men are giant babies
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Abdul Baqi Feb 01, 2022 11:35pm
So the issue that people have is that while she escaped being sexually assaulted, her husband still is not accepting her. What if she WAS assaulted? Should she still not be seen as a victim instead of being seen as a culprit. Shame on such mentality.
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Ali Feb 02, 2022 12:16am
Pakistani dramas are getting worst by each passing day, specially by content.
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Irfan Huq Feb 02, 2022 12:19am
Hum will do anything go any distance go down any low to make some extra money. It will produce anything that sells will do whatever the advertisers dictate and they can make profit
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AJ Feb 02, 2022 12:21am
Twitterati becomes outraged over everything, even fiction.
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Dr. Ahmed Feb 02, 2022 02:44am
@Nadeem Batt Exactly, you didn't know this one man represents us all? lol
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someguy Feb 02, 2022 05:30am
Once again, the moral posturing of Feminists. I must listen to what they think is right or wrong.
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AJ Feb 02, 2022 05:44am
Who wrote this stupid drama, the guys could not deal with the supposed perpetrators because of his weakness and decided to take it out someone else….
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Vijay B. Feb 02, 2022 06:01am
The last paragraph of the article is so well put and hopefully reflects the view of all sane and modernistic folks, as it does mine. No woman courts rape or molestation and to hold that against her even a single iota is so arcane.
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Vijay B. Feb 02, 2022 06:18am
Rape or even alleged rape, is such a big deal in a community that regularly follows the tenets of Halala if a divorced wife and her hubby want to get together again? Does it make any sense?
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Vijay B. Feb 02, 2022 06:25am
@Akil Akhtar "Pakistani society does not seem to know what is right or wrong." Pakistanis are not alone in this, The arcane attitude towards such cases needs to change the world over. Just being a woman is not, and should not be construed to be, a crime in itself.
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Vijay B. Feb 02, 2022 06:30am
When men marry a previously divorced or widowed woman, hasn't she been "touched" previously by another man too?
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Anjum Pervez Feb 02, 2022 08:30am
Why must we shy away from truth? This depicts what really can happen. It's definitely not a far fetched idea.
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Sharjeel Syed Feb 02, 2022 08:54am
@Dr. Ahmed Very well said. Some people twit just to seek attention
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Isthisreal Feb 02, 2022 10:34am
@Adeel lol. No sir, at least babies are cute and truthful.. we are anything but
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Riaz Khan Feb 02, 2022 10:52am
What nonsense? Even if a woman is raped, why husband should reject her.
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Anonymouseee Feb 02, 2022 11:20am
Pakistan dramas going from bad to worse.
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Queen Feb 02, 2022 11:47am
This is the reason I stopped watching Pakistani dramas years ago.
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M. Saeed Feb 02, 2022 03:10pm
Marital rape is a crime with punishment in almost all laws of the world.
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M. Saeed Feb 02, 2022 05:37pm
@Anonymouseee, commercialization and superficially extended episodes, are the reasons of decline of our dramas.
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Vijay B. Feb 03, 2022 02:28am
@M. Saeed Did you read and understand what this is bout at all? where does the question of "marital rape" come in to the picture at all over here? BTW, for your info, there are many places in the world where "marital rape" is not a crime under the law at all.
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Hanna Feb 03, 2022 04:05pm
Most Pakistani dramas are not worth watching and becoming repulsive and regressive rapidly,why do people continue to watch it?the only solution is boycotting them till they come up with better content
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Vijay B. Feb 04, 2022 12:27am
And what about the wife's reaction to her husband having been "touched" by another woman and always willingly at that?
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