- via Raj Shetye
On December 16th, 2012 in Munirka, a neighborhood in South Delhi a 23-year old woman and her male friend got on to a private bus that turned deadly. There were 6 others on the bus, including the bus driver, all of whom raped and beat her. Her friend was beaten badly. After 13 days the woman died of traumatic complications. 5 out of the 6 accused were sentenced to death, the 6th was sentenced to a juvenile facility. This caused quite the uproar in India, and globally. Many rallied for better protection.Recently, Raj Shetye an Indian fashion photographer has a shoot which included a woman on a bus being overthrown by men. The model was fighting off men on a bus which gave attention to the gruesome gang rape two years ago. This shocked many Indians, and social media users even commented on the photographs saying, “disgusting” and “horrible”.After worldwide controversy Raj Shetye released a statement saying the photos were “just a depiction of the situation of women in our country”. He didn’t feel the photoshoot was based on the rape scandal. After so many angry and outraged people on Facebook and Twitter the photos were taken down from Behance, the site the photographs were on.
- Via Raj Shetye
The photos were published in The Wrong Turn last week and that is what prompted the outrage. Indian celebrities like Vishal Dadlani tweeted, “Did I just see a fashion-spread depicting the Delhi gang rape of Nirbhaya? Disgusting! I hope all associated, die of shame! Insensitive swine!” he then added “Whoever you are…I hope you go to jail for this.”The 23-year old woman killed of the gang rape was a physiotherapy intern and the uproar cause many strict rape laws to be in place. The country has come so far to provide justice for their citizens that even remotely touching base on this subject gave many sore eyes.Another Indian actor, Amrita Puri tweeted, “Rape is not inspiration for a fashion shoot. I don’t know what the photographer was thinking doing an editorial shoot inspired by Nirbhaya.”
Coming to his own defense, Raj Shetye said “It is not based on Nirbhaya,” he said. “But being a part of society and being a photographer, that topic moves me from inside… I stay in a society where my mother, my girlfriend, my sister are out there and something like this can happen to them also.”
The women shown clearly look like they are struggling for freedom. In one photograph a model is spread between two men, her facial expression shows fear and aggression. All of our hearts go out to the woman that died in India, and may crimes like this be dimmed out to the best ability. Fashion is never about glamorizing pain, role models like Heidi Klum and Kendall Jenner show that you can make a statement and wear beautiful outfits without bringing awareness to painful situations.