Fractured consent and disrupted desires: Decoding the representational politics of marital rape and cohabitant sexual abuse in Malayalam Cinema from India

While marital rape has been a subject of legal dispute in Indian society, non-consensual sexual abuse within a cohabiting relationship also makes the issue complex and debatable. This research examines marital rape and cohabitant partner rape of females in Kerala, India, and their representation in Malayalam cinema. Any non-consensual sexual acts committed by an intimate partner or spouse cause psychological and physical harm and trauma to the survivor. Using visual, sound, and thematic analysis of three films, Padam Onnu: Oru Vilapam (Lesson One: A Wail, 2003), Ottamuri Velicham (Light in the Room, 2017), and Vivekanandan Viralanu (Vivekanandan is Viral, 2024), this paper observes that although rape themes have been rampant, the portrayal of marital rape in Malayalam cinema is limited, often attributed to its normalization in Kerala. The filmmakers of the selected texts have attempted to highlight the survivors’ perspective by providing non eroticized visuals and sound reifying ‘female gaze’ (Soloway 2018) and ‘sonic femininity’ (Silverman 1988).