Vikram calls incidents of crime against women ‘disgusting’; places onus on men for their safety FilmyMeet

Women need to feel safe at any odd hours or place and the onus on men to give them their space, says South star Vikram, who termed the recent incidents of crime against women in the country “disgusting”. (Also Read: Prithviraj Sukumaran ‘not shocked’ by Hema Committee report: ‘It is important to punish those who commit sexual abuse’)

The 58-year-old actor’s remarks come in the wake of the alleged rape and murder of a female doctor in Kolkata and the Justice Hema Committee report on women’s exploitation in Malayalam cinema.

‘Women should be able to walk the streets’

“All women need to feel protected. They should be able to walk the streets at 3.00 in the morning and feel they can walk, go home, and that nobody will do anything. That every man is there to protect them, to give them their space. It’s disgusting what’s happening,” Vikram told PTI.

The actor, whose Tamil film Thangalaan recently released in theatres, said he has often wondered about tackling the issue of women’s safety in his films. “We get affected by most things that happen… I’ve always thought that if I was creative, would I address it more in my movies? Will I do something?” he said.

‘Change the system and start from scratch’

Vikram said perhaps inspiration needs to be drawn from Thangalaan director Pa Ranjith whose films’ recurrent theme is about changing the entire system.

“It’s something that I’m trying to figure out, ‘What do we do? What does the nation need to do? Do we start young? Do we start inculcating these things in children?’ As Pa Ranjith says, ‘Change the whole system and start from scratch’. I don’t know, something has to be done,” he added.

Recent instances of crime against women

A postgraduate trainee woman doctor was allegedly raped and murdered in the seminar hall of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, following which a Kolkata Police civic volunteer was arrested.

The Justice Hema Committee report, released on August 19, details the power nexus in the Malayalam cinema industry and lays bare the multiple levels of exploitation faced by women in it. The Kerala government-appointed panel to study issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality was constituted after the 2017 actress assault case involving actor Dileep.