Meet Priya, a rape survivor and a superhero

Written By Preksha Malu | Updated:

A village teenager with hopes and aspirations, Priya's life derails after she is gang-raped. With the power of Goddess Parvathy, she takes control of a tiger in the jungle, where she is residing, and confronts everyone, including her attackers. Priya is a superhero with the powers of persuasion and ideas.

Launched as a comic book and an augmented reality story, 'Priya's Shakti' was released online on Monday and can be downloaded for free on all digital platforms. Its creator Ram Devineni has come down from New York to launch it at the Mumbai Comic Con on December 19. Devineni was in Delhi when the Nirbhaya case happened in 2012 and has been working on creating this book since December 2013. The book details Priya's life and how the Hindu gods come together to address the issue.

Through the Blippar app, which is free on all Android and Apple phones, if you scan any piece of the book, you can see the characters come alive on your gadget. Murals from the book have been painted in Dharavi, which are also compliant with the app. There are audio snippets on every page from real-life rape survivors whom Devineni interviewed. "There are four real stories at the end of the comic book, covering the rural and urban gender violence. I met them through a lawyer who worked on their cases. The snippets have come from women associated with the Apne Aap NGO based in Delhi and Kolkata," said the filmmaker and publisher, who hails from Vijaywada.

Apne Aap founder Ruchira Gupta said the book has the potential to inspire girls and boys to find power within them. "Just like thousands of Indian goddesses who have stood up to evil, Priya embodies what women can do. We partnered with Devineni to send a message to everyone trying to exploit women, that no amount of violence will drive us back home. December 16 is the anniversary of Nirbhaya and we want to convey that women should be free to board a bus or ride a tiger," said the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and activist.

"The entire comic book has been inspired by Amar Chitra Katha, and as majority of the population in India believes in Hinduism, we based the story around Hindu mythology. It focuses on conquering fears, and for Priya it was exactly that. Mythology is nothing but a story of ourselves," added Devineni, who worked with poet Vikas Menon and artist Dan Goldman to create the comic book.

In the book, Priya is banished from her village and the society blames her for bringing disgrace to herself. Devineni feels that the kind of shame that society puts on rape survivors creates a vicious circle, where the men feel a level of impunity and are empowered to commit crimes. "They know they will get away with it. We need to get survivors to bring such people to justice and we should support them, not discourage. Our target audience is teenagers and we wish to get this book to schools and in more regional languages," he said.

He added that with the comic book they want to challenge the patriarchal and misogynistic views around gender violence and create empathy for survivors. The book can be read in 15 minutes and Devineni swears it's not trying to be preachy. It was a challenge for him to make the story appealing, interesting and impactful without losing the attention span of a teenager. It doesn't have a price tag yet, and if anyone wishes to own the book, they simply have to post a picture of themselves with Priya's cartoon and share it on Facebook and Twitter with #istandwithpriya.

Mixing mythology with technology wasn't easy. Goldman spent over a year on the story and three months on digitally creating the characters. "I have loved Hindu iconography and culture as a child and I believe in being a better human being. I am willing to do anything that helps erode the difference between the two sexes. There are so many crimes committed all over the world which go unpunished. We should see that in no crime the culprit gets away without facing consequences. Without consequences you have no society," he said.

The comic book Priya's Shakti is available online. It's also available for free download on all digital platforms. To get the augmented reality experience, you have to download Blippar, which is also available free of cost