Meet Rehana Fathima, Woman Who Won POCSO Case After Posing Semi-Nude To Her Children

Three years back, Rehana Fathima posted a semi-nude video on the internet showing her two minor children - boy and girl - painting the upper part of her body.

Right activists often find themselves at the centre of controversy and so does Kerala's Rehana Fathima. She is a women’s rights activist and is not new to controversy - be it the POCSO case she was facing or her hyper-active participation in the Sabrimala protest. The 36-year-old women’s rights activist was back in the news on Monday after the Kerala High Court cleared her of charges in the POCSO case. According to reports, Rehana Fathima has a background in telecommunications and modelling, and has actively participated in many rights protests.

Why Did She Face POCSO Case?

Three years back, Rehana Fathima posted a semi-nude video on the internet showing her two minor children - boy and girl - painting the upper part of her body. The video took social media by storm. Following the outrage, Kochi city police had booked her under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and IT Act based on a report filed by Cyberdom, the cyber wing of Kerala police. BJP OBC Morcha leader A V Arun Prakash had also filed a case against Fathima under IT Act. However, Kerala High Court in its judgement said that nudity should not be tied to sex and nudity is not always obscenity. Emphasizing the right of women on their bodies, the high court quashed the charges. 

Who Is Rehana Fathima?

Rehana Fathima is also known by the name Surya Gayathri. Born on May 30, 1986 in a Muslim family, she lost her father when she was in Class 12. Rehana Fathima did B.COM and MCA from the Indira Gandhi National Open University. She got married to writer and director Manoj K. Sreedhar, but they got separated in 2021. She worked as a telecommunications technician with BSNL but was forced to take compulsory retirement in 2020. She also worked in the Eka movie directed by Sreedhar.

Controversies And Rehana Fathima

Rehana participated in a controversial ‘Kiss of love’ protest in Kochi in 2014 in protest against moral policing. She also created sensation after taking part in the annual Onam tiger dance called Pulikali which usually sees the attendance of all-male troupes. She also grabbed headlines in 2018 after posting a photo covering her breast with just watermelons after a male college teacher compared women’s breasts to watermelons and complained of Muslim women not dressing properly.  In October 2018, she entered the Sabarimala temple but was stopped 500 metres away from the temple’s main sanctum sanctorum by temple activists.