Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani has reportedly written to the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council to take action against Sony Pictures Television’s controversial show Pehredaar Piya Ki. The show depicts the marriage between a 10-year-old boy and an 18-year-old woman who is appointed as his caretaker to protect him from potential harm.
Child marriage is banned in India. The petition has received more than 1,30,000 supporters.
The show has been produced by Shashi Sumeet Productions. Sumeet Mittal, the show’s co-producers, had justified the plot as an instance of “rare bonding” in an interview with Scroll.in.
“Love has no particular definition,” Mittal said in the interview. “We love our parents and kids and that is love. We love our friends and that also is love. And bonding is again love. The boy is in love with the girl only because she is his protector. I don’t know why love is restricted only to a man and a woman. It is a weird thought.”
The producers were unavailable for comment – the television channel’s publicist claimed that they were travelling – but they will address a press conference in Mumbai on Monday.