The Kerala High Court’s decision on Monday has brought the discussion of self-importance, sexuality, obscenity, and a woman’s right to control her body back into the spotlight. Rehana Fathima, a woman’s rights activist, won the court’s support after courting controversy by sharing a video in which she was seen posing semi-naked with her young children.
“Nudity should not be tied to sex… A mother-child relationship is one of the earth’s most solemn and pious relationships,” discharging her from the case the court observed.
“Only a woman has the right to her body. Don’t feel ashamed of it. Respect your body,” was the activist’s message for society after her big court win.
“My children were (confused) that they just made a painting on their mother’s bodies and she had to go to jail for that. They were very disturbed because I was sent to 15-day jail. The society thought that I used my children for my satisfaction but it was not like that. We need to change the stereotype,” she said.
The 33-year-old activist was charged with violations of the Juvenile Justice, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), and Information Technology (IT) Acts for sharing the “Body and Politics” video in 2020, in which she could be seen posing semi-naked while having her young children paint her body.
“I told people I want my children to learn from their mother’s body and treat all bodies with respect. I don’t want them to see a woman’s body as goods, just (meant) for sexual satisfaction,” she said.
According to Rehana Fathima, her kids are “very happy with the court verdict.”
She simply permitted her body to be used as a canvas for her children to paint on, according to Justice Kauser Edappagath.
The order came on Ms Fathima’s appeal against a trial court decision dismissing her plea to be discharged from the case.
In her appeal to the high court, she claimed that the body painting was intended as a political statement against society’s presumption that a woman’s upper body is always sexualized whereas a man’s upper body is not handled in the same way.
“Every individual is entitled to the autonomy of his/her body – this is not selective on gender. But we often find this right is diluted or denied to the fairer sex,” the court said.
According to Justice Edappagath, the lower court utterly disregarded the circumstances in which the film was released as well as the message it sent to the general public.
The court also remarked that even from the testimony offered by Fathima’s children, they are loved and cared for by their mother.
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