A father’s anguish resonates on streets with play on women safety, reporting crime

“Is it my fault that I am a girl?”, asks a rape victim, as people around her rain questions down on her: “What were you wearing?, “Who will marry you now?”…. Finally, she breaks down: “He (the rapist) hurt my body, but society is hurting my heart.”

This is a scene from a patha natya (street play) conceptualised by Shubham Kulkarni, 31, the father of a 3-year-old girl who was raped and murdered this year in Pune. The 12-minute play titled Nasrapur Prakaran Ajun Kiti (How many more cases like Nasrapur) was performed recently before Ganpati Mandals in the city during the Ganesh festival.

At the end, Kulkarni comes onto the stage for a few minutes to speak to the audience about being cautious regarding the criminal elements in their surroundings.

But, as much as it is about the safety of girls and preventing sexual violence against them, Kulkarni tells The Indian Express, “The play sends the message that society should not view the victim and her family negatively. It is wrong to question the victim for the crime committed by the rapist.”

The younger daughter of Kulkarni, who works as a priest and lives in Pune, was sexually assaulted and killed on May 1, 2026, while away at her grandmother’s house in Nasrapur village in Pune district, leading to widespread public outrage.

The accused, 65-year-old Bhimrao Kamble with a previous criminal record, was tried and convicted by a fast-track court. On June 29, the court awarded Kamble death penalty under Sections of the BNS and POCSO Act.

Kulkarni, whose elder daughter is 7, says while he was satisfied with the court order, the incident again highlighted the issue of safety of women. With that in mind, he started a charitable foundation in his deceased daughter’s name. Around the same period, filmmaker Pramod Prabhulkar, who runs the Miracles Academy of Arts and Media, got in touch with the family, offering support for their legal battle.

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Prabhulkar’s Marathi film YouthTube, released in 2019, was based on similar issues surrounding rape.

On September 12, Kulkarni asked Prabhulkar what he thought about performing a street play to highlight what he felt about his daughter’s death. Prabhulkar offered his support.

Prabhulkar told The Indian Express: “It was my duty to stand with a father who had lost his daughter to such a serious crime. When I spoke to my team, 15 young artists came forward voluntarily to act in the play.”

While Mitali Patwardhan prepared the script, Shreyas Indapur directed it. The play had its first performance on September 22 at the reputed Kasba Ganpati Mandal in Pune, followed by 10 other Ganesh Mandals across the city.

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Shravani Mohite, an engineer employed with a corporate company who calls acting her “passion”, performed the lead role. “When I heard about the play, I wanted to be a part of it because, like every other girl, I have faced such untoward experiences. Through the play, I wanted to contribute to the cause of women’s safety. The response from the audience has been overwhelming. Hundreds of devotees gathered at Ganesh Mandals saw the play. Many were left in tears,” says Mohite.

Kulkarni points out that the play urges people not to hide incidents of sexual abuse but to report them to the police immediately, “so that criminals don’t feel encouraged to commit more crimes”. “At the end of the play, emergency contact numbers are displayed for people to call if they learn about such incidents.”

For this news report, Kulkarni gave a signed affidavit, saying he has no objections to his name and other details about him being carried.

The other thing Kulkarni wants the play to convey is that the arrest of the accused is not the end, and marks the start of a long judicial process. “After the lower court’s order, cases go to the High Court, then the Supreme Court. The time taken for final delivery of justice is uncertain. Also, there is no guarantee that punishment granted by a lower court will be upheld. For a common man, such long legal battles are not easy,” says Kulkarni.

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Since the accused of the rape-murder of his daughter has been given death, the case will mandatorily be heard by the High Court.

Kulkarni plans to next approach schools and Navratri festival organisers in Pune to hold the play. “We want to take it across Maharashtra. What happened to my daughter should not happen with any other girl.”