An Artist Frames His Response to the Kathua Rape

The face of the eight-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in Kathua, Jammu, in early January has become a touchstone for the protests that took place across the country yesterday. Photos of the murdered child and her name have been in circulation in print and social media since the crime was reported, galvanising people to react to the gruesome chargesheet, even though it is against the law to disclose the identity of a rape victim.

On April 13, the Delhi High Court issued notices to media houses who had disclosed the girl’s identity (the photos were originally shared by the girl’s father), prompting a heated debate about whether protecting a victim is the most pressing concern when she has become an important symbol for protest.

On Twitter, prominent lawyers Nandita Saikia and Karuna Nundy weighed on the importance of disclosing the identity of the victim as well as proposed offender registries in a long discussion. “Does a heart-wrenching photograph of a child help elevate the response of a nation to her rape and murder, even as publicising it breaks the law?” asked Scroll in a story exploring the ethical and legal ramifications at stake.

VICE spoke to Orijit Sen, the graphic artist whose sketch of the victim, with her name, became one of the most iconic portraits shared on the internet after he posted it on April 12. As the debates over disclosing identity unfolded, and when it emerged that the Hindu Ekta Manch—the organisation which protested the investigation and prosecution of the crime—was using the portrait as their Facebook cover image, Sen posted a new, unidentifiable image.

VICE asked Sen where artists need to draw the line when it comes to representation versus realistic portraits in cases such as these.

VICE: When did you draw your portrait of the Kathua victim? Do you remember what you had just read or seen?
Orijit Sen: It was 3 in the morning. I was working on something else. At one point I decided to take a break and scrolled through my Facebook and that’s when I came across the image of the victim. I was haunted by it. I kept thinking about the girl. I stopped my other work and started drawing. At that point I didn’t know why I was drawing, what I was drawing.

Artist Taarika John's response on Instagram. Image: Instagram

I wanted to capture the spirit of the girl. Her father had said how meadows were her favourite place to play. I imagined her as a child of the meadow which is why I drew her with a horse. The horse was a metaphor for the guardian spirit I wished upon her. We as a state, a society, failed in protecting her. I drew her gathering flowers—she has become one with the meadow.

Why do you think this image become so popular?
I wanted to capture the innocence and vulnerability of the girl. I did not try to show her as a victim. My portrait of her is about innocence, about belonging to nature. I think that’s why people responded to it.

There seem to be two versions of the image around—you updated your first Facebook post to remove the victim’s name. Did you also update the image to be less recogniseable?
I removed the name of the girl and changed it to Kathua. I put a shadow on her face. It was not only because of the court order, though it did give me further impetus. It was brought to my notice that the Hindu Ekta Manch was using my drawing as their cover photo on Facebook. The discussion on their page was all about how the investigation was biased—there were various conspiracy theories going around. They were using my image to propagate their narrative.

I was disturbed. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I hadn’t meant the image to be used by the very people I am against. I also read the court order, and decided to take the original image down, but 3,000 people had already shared it. It meant a lot of a lot of people. I also didn’t want to erase that image altogether. So I changed it slightly. And it was the new image that was used in the protests. It is not identifiable now.

Vimal Chandran's response on Instagram. Image: Instagram.

Do you think the Kathua victim’s photo was crucial to galvanising the protestors?
The galvanising happened because of a number of reasons. I’m glad that finally people are agitated—I don’t think it’s just one thing. But images do play a role. Some say that you don’t need an image to feel empathy. I am a visual person. Images speak to me. They draw me in.

Art, images, have the power to move people. It doesn’t need you to be literate. English—only a certain section can read it. Hindi, same. Images are powerful and can be understood by everyone.

Leaving legality aside, what are your ethical or artistic responses to a situation like this one?
I think it depends on the situation. There is no unified way to respond. It is a response to the uniqueness of that moment. When I saw the picture, I was deeply troubled. I was haunted by the photograph. It kept playing in my mind. It is a response to that moment. I also believe, as an artist, we should always be sensitive to what’s going on around us.

How is addressing something like this, as an artist, different from your work say with River of Stories about the Narmada protests?
It is in fact the same. It was a long time of engagement but I remember the moment, that spark that made me work on a graphic novel about Narmada. For me, it’s always the first spark that moves me. I can’t rationalise that.

Image: Instagram

Has anything you’ve drawn kind of gone out of your hands in this way before?
Quite a few posts actually. I put out satirical posts on Facebook that talk about the politics of the day. Some are provoked by particular incidents. For example, after the attack on JNU students when police beat up the students, I was moved and made a post on Facebook in solidarity. That went viral. That image was used to spread awareness.

How comfortable do you feel putting your art out there on social media, where you don’t have much control over how it’s used and shared?
I share my work openly on social media. I also receive a lot of criticism. I am OK with that. What I am not OK is with people appropriating my image. That's the only thing that makes me uncomfortable. People sometimes try to do some modifications on my drawings: I am OK with that. I am sharing on a public space, not a gallery.

What about social media platforms regulating your work?
There were once two posts that were taken down by Facebook: one was titled “Punjaban” and the other was “She came in through the bathroom window”. These images were about my relationship with women, my sense of joy in those relationships, my relationship with physicality, etc. They were humorous and funny but some people were angry and reported them. Facebook deleted them based on those reports. But that made a lot of people angry. Especially women. In response a lot of people posted nude art. It became like a festival of nude art. Media covered it. It became a viral phenomenon. And without saying anything, Facebook restored my posts.

Image: Instagram

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