Bhavana Menon
Bhavana Menon speaks out about her “difficult journey from being a victim to a survivor”. Five years after she was abducted and sexually assaulted, she’s finally ready to face it.
Menon, who has appeared in over 80 films in southern Indian languages and received several prizes, was assaulted by a group of men in February 2017 while traveling from Thrissur to Kochi.
Her attack made news, particularly after Dileep, one of the top performers in the Malayalam film business and Menon’s co-star in a half-dozen films, was listed as an accused and charged with criminal conspiracy. Despite his denials, he was detained and kept in detention for three months before being released on bond. In a trial court, the case is being heard.
Her Thoughts
“I was just a normal fun-loving girl and then this one incident happened that turned my life upside down. Most people see the smiling photos I post on social media, but I have been to hell and back,” Menon said.
“I became this victim, this ‘assaulted actress’. And for long, I kept asking, ‘Why me?’ I was blaming myself and I was looking for a way out,” she said.
“But in 2020, after the trial began, I spent 15 days giving evidence in court. And that’s when things changed. Here I was, wanting to forget and move on, but then I had to remember everything, every tiny detail about the case.”
“I was devastated, broken into a million pieces, all these things were very hurtful to me. I sometimes wanted to scream at the top of my lungs,” she told Indian digital platform Mojo Story. “My dignity was snatched and then I was victim shamed.”
“This has not been an easy journey. The journey from being a victim to becoming a survivor. For 5 years now, my name and my identity have been suppressed under the weight of the assault inflicted on me,” she wrote.
“Though I am not the one who had committed the crime, there have been many attempts to humiliate, silence and isolate me. But at such times I have had some who stepped forward to keep my voice alive. Now when I hear so many voices speak up for me I know that I am not alone in this fight for justice,” she added.