PEMRA bans drama ‘Hadsa’ revolving around motorway rape incident

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Wednesday issued a ban on airing the drama ‘Hadsa’ in response to a complaint from lawyer Khadija Siddiqi. The decision came after concerns were raised that the show’s content was centred around the 2020 motorway gang rape case.

The PEMRA in its notification said that it had received numerous complaints from viewers with regard plot/ theme of the drama serial on its Twitter handle @reportpemra.

“Viewers are criticising the plot/theme of the drama serial ‘Hadsa’ based on a real incident that took place at Lahore-Sialkot motorway,” the notification added.

pic.twitter.com/P15BF1rddy

— Report PEMRA (@reportpemra) August 30, 2023

Nearly three years after the incident, Geo TV started broadcasting the drama series ‘Hadsa’, which drew criticism from different segments of society. Concerns were raised about the alleged lack of consent from the survivor and the show’s handling of sexual assault, including its explicit depiction.