Sister Combatant

Nonprofits present comics, report in Beijing to support elimination of violence against women. Satarupa Bhattacharjya reports.

Ram Devineni, an Indian-born documentary filmmaker from the United States, was in Beijing last week to hold workshops and deliver lectures on comic books that focus on survivors of rape and acid attacks, as part of events to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, designated by the United Nations for Nov 25.

The two books, co-written by him with different authors and illustrated by American artist Dan Goldman, use augmented reality and Hindu mythology to tell the stories of its female superhero Priya, a dark-skinned woman with shoulder-length hair, who sits astride a tiger and comes to the rescue of women targeted by gender crimes.