It was episode 17 of Case No.9 that totally blew up Pakistani television. An episode that said things with such clarity and force that have never been said before, an episode that made women feel empowered by law, highlighted the struggle rape victim’s deal with with such legal force that you couldn’t help but thank Pakistan’s law on rape and in particular Justice Ayesha Malik. Beenish (Amina Shaikh) delivered the performance of a lifetime, her best yet, and it was goosebumps on screen. Her counterpart Bukhari (Noor-ul-Hasan) also was the perfect contrast to her as Beenish laid down facts vs. fictions, truth vs. stereotypes.
She mentions a rape case verdict that says a woman’s past cannot be called into question if shes been raped. The background doesnt matter: the rape does. It doesnt matter if the woman is a virgin or not, it doesn’t matter if she is divorced or not, all that matters is that she is raped – or not. It is these true, landmark cases that we need our society and its women to be aware of and Beenish does a stellar, stellar job. She quotes statistics that are hard, and scary truths about Pakistan: Eight children are sexually abused in the country everyday, women, regardless of what they wear are harassed on a daily basis and you also see Bukhari trying to find stats to counter her, but unable to do so.
This was Beenish’s moment, every Pakistani woman’s moment too. Hope is here in Case No.9 and here to stay.
That’s not it. In a day-dream sequence we see Sehar (Saba Qamar) getting up in the courtroom and confronting her attacker, her rapist regardless of court decorum. She faces him with the strength we know she possesses but is unable to show given court decorum and in that moment, we are happy for her as she is mentally able to face her worst nightmare. Hope is here to stay for Sehar too.
And Kiran (Rushna Khan) is not far behind either. In episode 18, Kiran finally leaves Kamran (Faysal Quraishi), as she is finally convinced, after confronting Rohit (Junaid Khan) that her husband has done ‘something wrong’ when he admits that he flirted with Sehar – unknowingly admits it, of course. We see her leaving with her little baby girl, a very scary thing to do for a new mother, but she takes the stand nonetheless. There is hope of freedom for Kiran too.
And we also hear of an older rape survivour, who was raped by Kamran before, who contacts Sehar and says that she finally as the guts to speak up after hearing Sehar did too. Hope that others will also have hope to speak up and get justice.
Case No.9 is the breakthrough drama we didn’t know we needed, where women come together to support each other in life and in its struggles. Be it a wife, a survivor or a lawyer, they are all connected and lets not also forget that the words used are also so important. Sehar calls herself a rape survivor and she proves that she truly is not a victim. She has survived and that’s why there is hope.