Hadiqa Kiani, a well-known Pakistani actress and singer, has refuted rumors that the horrific tragedy of the highway rape case of 2020 is the subject of her new drama Hadsa.
When the original Motorway victim contacted journalist Fereeha Idrees and said that the producers had aired her entire tale on television without getting her permission and that her wounds were once more exposed, Hadsa, a new drama on Geo, came under intense criticism.
Famous journalist Fereeha M. Idrees said on X (previously Twitter) that Hadsa is about the mother who was gang-raped in front of her children on the Lahore–Sialkot Motorway.
When the phone rang, I never expected this to be Z’s call. Z was the person whom I had spoken to a couple of years ago post her traumatic experience on motorway. Those were tumultuous times when everyone’s attention was focused on Z, while she was grappling to keep her sanity…
— Fereeha M Idrees (@Fereeha) August 27, 2023
In September 2020, a French lady of Pakistani descent was gang-raped in front of her three children on the Sialkot-Lahore Highway. The victim called the journalist after the drama aired, and according to the journalist, she has been experiencing trauma ever since.
Hadiqa’s Response
Hadiqa claimed that her drama is not about the motorway incident and that before beginning the project, she inquired about the storyline.
“Hadsa follows the life of Taskeen (Kiani), a headstrong and opinionated woman who leads a happy and successful life with her loving husband and children. The wedding preparations for her eldest son’s marriage are underway however, a sudden and horrific incident shatters Taskeen’s world, leaving her grappling with its aftermath,” said Hadiqa in a post.
“To know that something I have been a part of is being used to hurt and trigger a survivor is something I cannot stand for,” Kiani wrote on her social media.
“When I was asked to do the role of Taskeen for Hadsa my first question was ‘Is this related to the motorway incident?’ ‘Is this the project if it was based off of anyone’s story’. The team behind the project explicitly told me ‘No.’
“After many conversations with the team and only after reading the script I understood that Hadsa was not related to or based off of the 2020 motorway story,” said the singer turned actor.
“Hadsa is not based on any one person’s story, it is based off of a sickly common part of our reality.”
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She added “episodes should air with trigger warnings, with a caution for all those who have been exposed to such evils.”
“I am in no position to say how survivors should respond — all I can say and hope for is that we bring the conversation regarding this evil forward, that we can all make strides to protect and empower survivors.”
Backlash
People are criticizing the creators of Hadsa and requesting that they stop airing the show ever since the victim’s testimony surfaced.
PEMRA is being urged to ban Hadsa from being aired on television, as many people think that the victim’s story is being proffered off.