Child Video Case: Activist Rehana Fathima Surrenders Before Kochi Police

Kerala activist Rehana Fathima has surrendered before the Ernakulam police on Saturday afternoon. Following the rejection of her anticipatory bail plea by a Supreme Court bench a day before, the controversial activist went before the South Police station under the Kochi Commissionerate and gave herself up. 

Fathima has been making headlines since she uploaded her semi nude video, allowing her minor children to paint on her body. Now, she has been arrested under sections of the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences).

Fathima had earlier shared a video that depicted her children painting on her semi-nude body. It was viral on all social media platforms last month which featured her two minor children – a 14-year-old-boy and an eight-year-old girl. It resulted in a nationwide social media outrage. After the video was found by the Cyber Dome of Kochi Police, a case was registered against the activist in June.

Using the hashtag BodyArt and Politics, she wrote: "No child who has seen his own mother's nakedness and body can abuse the female body."

She moved to the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court’s rejection of her pre-arrest bail but it was again denied by the Apex Court on Friday.

What You Should Know

• Kerala activist Rehana Fathima surrendered before the police in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case.
• Fathima was booked in the case of obscenity. She uploaded a video on social media last month. The video shows her two underage children painting on her semi-nude body.
• A former BSNL employee, Fathima, though unsuccessful, tried to enter the Sabarimala Temple sanctum in 2018.

Also Read: “Court Bailing Out Protesters Easily But Not Me,” Rehana Fathima

What was her plea all about?

Fathima, in her plea, said that she had “intended to normalise the female form for her children and not allow distorted ideas of sexualisation to pervade their minds”.

She claims to be a gender equality activist who thinks her son “should grow up knowing about his mother’s body, what it is and what it is not,” TOI reported after her video went viral. She further explained, “Instead of getting information about women’s bodies from temple sculptures and pornography, it’s better that he learns about womanhood from his mother. What I am saying is that all nudity need not be tied to sex. I believe that I would be able to make my son understand that.”

On Friday, dismissing her protection from arrest plea, the Supreme Court called it a “spreading obscenity” act. A top court bench led by Justice Arun Mishra asked the activist, “Why do you do all this? What impression will growing children get?”

Further adding, “You might be an activist (but) what kind of nonsense is this? It is obscenity you are spreading. It will leave a very bad taste in society,”  NDTV had earlier reported.

Also Read: Exercising Helped Me Not To Get Into Postpartum Depression: Sania Mirza Prepares For Tokyo Olympics

Feature Image Credit: Madhyamam

Read More Stories By Ria Das