KM Nanavati Vs State Of Maharashtra: Sylvia’s Side Of The Story

A six-feet tall handsome Parsi Naval Commander Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati and his gorgeous English wife Sylvia would attract attention their way to every event they marked their attendance at. Kawas would be away for assignments for months, leaving Sylvia and their three children alone, as is scripted in the part. But something was different on the morning of 27 April 1959, days after he had returned from sailing the seas for two months. Sylvia made a brutal admission that she has been having an affair with their flamboyant friend, Prem Ahuja.

Later that afternoon, Kawas collected his revolver with six cartridges under a false pretext and went to a Sindhi businessman Prem’s office first, then his flat. He barged into the rich man’s bedroom to find a freshly out of the shower Prem in nothing but a towel on. Kawas fired three bullets and exited the crime spot. After Kawas turned himself in, a jury trial began in the court, besides the one in the media and the streets of Bombay. The ‘crime of passion,’ as the sensational KM Nanavati vs State of Maharashtra case was called, shook India. The Verdict: State vs Nanavati is an upcoming web series based on the infamous scandal, check out its trailer here:

The Parsi community honoured their ‘hero’ who was hailed as Lord Rama who killed Ravana, the man who kidnapped his wife. The defense team gave a similar treatment to the case: an honest Kawas was forced to stay away from home on months-long voyages, while an evil businessman lured his wife. Kawas was the ‘hero,’ Prem was the ‘villain,’ and Sylvia was the victim of this story.

Eventually, Kawas, despite being a convicted murderer, walked scot-free. And somehow, till date, everyone remembers Prem as the bad guy and Sylvia as the amoral, sex-hungry better half of Nanavati. From the point, she confessed about her extra-marital engagement till perhaps today, the defamation knows no end. The crowd supporting Nanavati blamed Sylvia for jumping into bed with her husband’s friend while he served the country and put her desires above her family. This is where the downward spiral begins. Men think they are keepers of female ‘honour.’ Of course, female honour in India is the second word for sexual purity. A widely-accepted backward belief is that women can have sex as long as it is within the parameters of heteronormative marriage. This norm probably explains why adultery is an offense in India and marital rape not as such.

The very fact that many think Kawas killing his wife’s lover was a ‘manly’ act is the problem. Prem’s sister Mamie had said that Sylvia and Prem consented to everything that transpired between them. But who listens to the vamp in a show? The focus of the case seemed to be heavily on how many times Sylvia slept with her lover, how guilty was she than if Kawas regretted committing the crime. Synthia became the evil spawn, Kawas simply the protector. Lord Rama had asked Sita to give an agnipariksha to prove her purity, but guess Synthia’s ordeals don’t seem to end, even after Nanavati took her back, at least in the public memory. A woman’s transgression is a sin bigger than taking someone’s life. How long are we going to hold Sylvia responsible? She was in love and besides, there is no evidence of her asking Kawas to kill Prem. So, whose fault is it really?

60 years on, Sylvia leads a happy life in Canada with her family. She has let bygones be bygones. Guess it’s time we do too.

Meanwhile, watch New Bollywood Movies like Simmba, The Tashkent Files only on ZEE5.