Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj
Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj (born 4 December 1986) is an Indian journalist, documentary film-maker and men's rights activist. Bhardwaj rose to prominence after producing a documentary—"Martyrs of Marriage" (MoM), which covered abuse(s) of criminal section 498A (Anti-dowry law) by brides and their families. She also exposed a conspiracy of alleged victims in the Rohtak sisters viral video controversy by interviewing the witnesses and collecting proof. She has produced and directed another documentary-- "India's Sons"—as well. Education and career. Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj graduated with a B.Tech from Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences (TIT&S) in 2006 . She also did a post-graduate Diploma in television journalism from Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in 2009. She worked as Software Engineer at Infosys during 2006 to 2008 before leaving the job to pursue film-making. Her first documentary film "Gramin Dak Sevak" was a student film winner at in 2009. She has been working as editorial consult at Exchange4Media since November 2010. Activism. 498-A and Martyrs of Marriage. Bhardwaj alleges to have been the victim of a false 498A case, after she and her cousin were charged under the provisions courtesy a police-complaint by her  ex-sister-in-law; the issue was resolved in an off-court settlement involving a huge sum of money. This brought her into contacts with Save Indian Family Foundation, and she has since often collaborated with them in demanding an outright repeal of the law or amending to a gender-neutral version. Bhardwaj's personal episode also went on to serve as the motivations for making a documentary on the locus. "Martyrs of Marriage" (2017) narrated first-person tales of various victims who alleged of being at the receiving ends of abuse of 498A and interviewed politicians, judges et al . for their take on the issue. False sexual harassment allegations. Bhardwaj campaigns against false sexual harassment allegations. She had supported the #Mentoo movement, a campaign that was started in response of false allegations of the #MeToo movement in India and wrote about how the me-too movement turned men into disposable or collateral damage. In the Rohtak sisters viral video controversy, she interviewed several witnesses and released videos that held the accusers of lying. In 2021, Bhardwaj played a proactive role in busting the case where a female student had filed a series of sexual assault cases to extort money . National Commission for Men. Bhardwaj campaigns for the establishment of a National Commission for Men in India that would deal with men's issues including domestic violence and sexual assault. India's Sons. In 2021, she produced another documentary called "India's Sons," which was focused on the condition of India's men due to false rape cases. She said that the documentary "inspired" men to tell their side of the story.