The National Commission for Women has issued a show cause notice against television producer Ekta Kapoor and TV channel Star Plus. ‘‘Ekta Kapoor should stop depicting women in a demeaning manner in her serials,’’ fumed Poornima Advani, chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW), speaking from her Delhi residence on Wednesday.The notice was served in response to an episode aired on October 12, where protagonist Ansh Gujra (Akashdeep Sehgal) rapes his wife Nandini (Gauri Pradhan) on popular television soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.Advani hasn’t seen the episode but claims members of the commission have, and they found it distasteful. She has demanded that Kapoor appear before the commission. The date for the hearing will be set in end-November.On Monday, Ekta Kapoor defended the scene in the serial saying no skin was shown and the rape scene was not meant to titillate but to convey the trauma of a victim of marital rape. ‘‘I have been unjustly targetted. The NCW should pull up other serials that show women in a bad light,’’ she argued, citing Kagar and Kadam as examples. ‘‘They’ve shown rape scenes that were a lot more unpleasant,’’ she said. Vivek Sengupta, Senior Vice President of Star Plus, which airs the serial, defended the scene. ‘‘We are mindful of the fact that our programmes are for family viewing and we have stuck to our guidelines,’’ he said.
