A popular amateur drama group from Assam marked World Theatre Day by staging Nyay — a play shedding light on the ordeal of rape and lynching victims and their families, particularly their fight for justice and closure, and the response of the political class, irrespective of parties.

The Guwahati-based Samahar Natya Gosthee staged the 90-minute play at the Sri Madhavadeva International Auditorium of the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra on Thursday evening.

Written and directed by eminent theatre personality, Dr Sitanath Lahkar, the play starts with the father of a lynching victim grieving alone at the loss of his youngest son and ends with a rape victim breaking down after getting to know from the morning newspaper that her rapist has been killed, reflecting a closure which did not come from the court.

The powerful accused, son of a politician, had escaped the clutches of law in five rape cases.

"The play is about their (victims and their families) anguish and fight for justice and closure. About how lynching and rape accused have been treated in some cases by the political class. It seems they have benefitted from Amrit Kaal," Lahkar said.

The Guwahati-based Lahkar, who started writing the play soon after Calcutta’s RG Kar rape-and-murder case last year, said: “The term Amrit Kaal was coined to tell that everything is fine in the society. However, it is not the reality for a sizeable section of the population. In this context only, the play referred to the two women gang rape victims of Manipur and lynching of a youth in Haryana,” he said.

The term Amrit Kaal is regularly used by the ruling BJP ecosystem to convey, among others, good governance and progress to better the lives of everyone.

The main cast included Lahkar as Haidar Ali, the grief-stricken father of the lynch victim.

The other actors included Rupam Chetia (as Anal Adhikari), Dr Smita Lahkar (Emon Adhikari), Reema Teron (Mamata Adhikari) and Binita Kalita (Nandita).

Lahkar said: “I wanted to convey the pain and horror of lynching and rape victims through Nyay. Not only the victims, but the families also go through immense pain and trauma, and it is very hard to console. If I don't speak about them, shall I remain worth calling a theatre activist, let alone an artiste? I always speak the truth through my plays.”