“Domestic violence is a punishable offence; women shouldn’t keep quiet because of family reputation,” says Adrija Addy Roy on her show’s new track

‘

Mou Er Bari

’ starring Adrija Addy Roy and Abhishek Veer Sharma in the lead roles, is a popular show on Bengali TV. The daily soap narrates the story of a girl, named Mou, who wants to perform all her responsibilities towards her even after marriage. She raises questions about the practice where a guy is expected to take care of his parents while a girl, being ‘paraya dhan’, is expected to perform her duties as a daughter-in-law.

Mou Er Bari's current track is highlighting yet another issue - domestic violence. Lead actress

Adrija

spoke to ETimes TV about the current storyline, and voiced her concern regarding the issue. “According to the story, Mou’s sister-in-law Meghna faces domestic violence. Her husband

Anupam

beats her up every now and then. Mou and her husband Rupam warned Anupam several times which went in vain. Mou tells her other family members to stop Anupam from abusing Megha but none heeds to her pleas. Seeing no other choice, Mou calls police and hands him over to the cops,” says Adrija.

The promo of the show, which was recently aired, caught the attention of fans. Many lauded the step taken by Mou. When asked Adrija what she feels about it, she says, “Domestic violence, be it in any form, is a punishable crime. Women should raise their voice against it no matter what. I absolutely support Mou’s actions and strongly believe the perpetrators should be dealt with strict hands. In real life, I would have done it on the very first day.”

The actress emphasised how women irrespective of their socio-economical background, keep quiet about domestic violence quite often. “Just like how it is shown in Mou Er Bari, I have seen many women keeping quiet about domestic violence irrespective of their educational and social background. They get beaten up miserably but keep quiet because of family reputation or stigma. Her in-laws or other family members, on the other hand, simply overlook the entire incident which in turn encourages a man to continue such punishable behaviour. The time has come when we should encourage a girl to raise her voice against abuse in every form and stop raising them as paraya dhan. Give them power and a wing to fly instead. And I am proud that Mou Er Bari highlights it,” Adrija said.