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Won't wed rape victims: Malaysia's ethnic-Indian men
Kashmir Times. Dated: 3/30/2015 12:49:39 AM
KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 29 (Agencies): In a short film shot as a social experiment, two out of three ethnic-Indian men in Malaysia have said that they would not marry rape victims as it would tarnish their family's "honour".
The social experiment film made by Malaysian television channel Astro Ulagam (Astro world) has been titled "Would you marry a rape victim?"
In the four-and-a-half minute video, two of the three young ethnic-Indian men interviewed said they will not marry sexual assault victims, saying their family honour will be tarnished.
"No, I won't. My family's honour will fall," one of the men was quoted as saying in Tamil.
Another man said it would be cumbersome to answer people's questions if he were to accept a rape victim as his life partner, Malay Mail reported today.
"I won't accept if it is a rape victim because if other people come to learn about it, they will be asking and it will be difficult to answer," he said.
The names of the interviewees, who appear to have been interviewed in the ethnic-Indian Brickfields neighbourhood here, were not revealed in the video, although their faces were shown clearly.
One of four ethnic-Indian women interviewed in the video also said no one would accept rape victims.
"Even if it is not the girl's fault and it was an unforeseen incident, no one would accept," she said.
One ethnic-Indian man, however, expressed his willingness to marry a rape victim, saying she cannot be blamed for her sexual assault.
"Definitely! It is not their fault... It is stupid to sideline them just because they have been raped," he said.
Another ethnic-Indian woman stressed that rape victims should not be ostracised.
"People will talk, but if she's my friend or my sister, how can I shun her?"