What happened when Raveena Tandon met Nirbhaya’s mother?

Raveena Tandon‘s upcoming film ‘Maatr’ is a disturbing tale of rape and thus, is a harsh piece of reality. Raveena, who is making her comeback in Bollywood after quite some time, is a rebellious, fierce woman who speaks her heart out on things that matter.

In the film, she plays a devastated mother whose daughter’s life has been ruined, after she is subjected to a gruesome rape and more. They say, mothers have all the strength in the world. With tears in one eye and fire in the another, she sets off on a journey to find justice for her daughter.

Almost 5 years down the lane, the Nirbhaya gang rape incident is itched like a curse in all our memories. What happened when the reel mother met the real mother; that is Nirbhaya’s mother? (Also Read: Ahead of the release of her film ‘Maatr’, Raveena Tandon pens down an astute open letter)

In a conversation with Pinkvilla, Raveena shared her moving encounter with the mother who lives an empty life now.

“I met Nirbhaya’s mother during an event and believe me two years down the line, her tears haven’t dried up. These are exactly her words. she said ‘4 days is what happens, the first day the press and everyone covers it, second there will be panel discussion, the third day candle light marches and fourth day politicians coming offering compensations and the fifth day it is back to business and everyone’s forgotten the incident.’ So what happened to her? The rapist is scout free, he is walking free and what happened to Nirbhaya’s family. They are the one living a difficult life,” the actress said.

“As far as I am concerned that 17-years-old who raped (Nirbhaya) could very well pay for his crimes, could have been given a harsh sentence because for me what that person did was not a normal person would do. He was a sadist psychopath, he should have been given psychiatrist ward first rather than rewarded a sewing machine and incentive. That was the worst of all that was done by the Govt. Laws need to be changed to be able to relate to the times we are living in,” she added.

That wrenched our hearts! No one really knows when is the change coming…

Ranjini Maitra

Journalist. Writer. Reader. Enthu cutlet. Mood-swing machine. Day dreamer. Sandwiched between ‘live life fully’ and ‘lose some weight’. Mantra of life: Love and love more.