Bangla TV rapped by Ofcom for violent film before watershed

Bangla TV has been rapped by Ofcom for broadcasting violent movie ‘Chorabali’ on 31st May at 11:30.

A viewer complained about the film’s adult content, which included:
• a man tied to a ceiling by his hands being hit with a stick. The scene included shots of blood dripping from the man’s face and feet;
• a man picking up a knife from a plate of food and using it to slice a man’s throat, causing blood to spill from his neck;
• a pregnant woman being shot in the back of the head. The scene included shots of an exit wound in her forehead and her body on the floor with a pool of blood around her head;
• a heavily pregnant woman tied to a tree and being beaten to death with a stick;
• a child stabbing a man in the shoulder with a sharp metal bar. The scene included shots of the bar protruding from the man’s bleeding shoulder as he cried out in pain, and shots of the child’s face covered in blood;
• a child stabbing a man with a large blade, with shots of blood on the man’s shirt and on the end of the blade; and
• four instances of men being shot in the chest, with blood seen coming from their wounds.

Bangla TV apologised and branded it a “gross mistake” for the error in scheduling the film outside watershed. It said that although it edits feature films shown on the channel to comply with the Code, in this case human error resulted in the unedited version of the film being broadcast. Bangla TV said it has since taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again.

Ofcom recognised that the film was broadcast on a weekday morning during term time. Therefore, it was likely that most children would be at school and unavailable to view this content. However, we considered the level of bloody violence shown in the film would have far exceeded the expectations of the audience for a film shown at this time and would have been highly distressing for any children, particularly younger children, who may have come across the content.

Ofcom took into account the Licensee’s apology and that it had taken steps to prevent similar occurrences. However, Ofcom’s decision is that this was a clear breach of Rule 1.11.

Bangla TV went off-air last month on Sky. It is not yet known if it will return.