'Being a celebrity, I've endured domestic violence and insults to my parents': Swagata

Actress Zinat Sanu Swagata recently faced notable backlash on social media since speaking about being happily married for the second time to Dr Hasan Azad. Netizens were quick to berate her online, using her divorce from her former husband (Rashed Zaman), whom she was married to between 2015 and 2022, as an excuse due to her acting profession."

Sharing insights into her abusive first marriage and social media scrutiny, the actress recently openly revealed that she got married to Dr Hasan Azad out of love just as the first time. "I have divorced my former husband, abiding by all the required rules and regulations, and then got married as per my decision. Ultimately this is my life and I get to decide what I do with it. Does life always go the same way for everyone?" inquired Swagata.

"Life before marriage and life after marriage become vastly different. Sometimes, the paths of two lives who choose to marry, diverge a lot. It can get difficult to live together. We have only one life. If someone turns your life into hell and bad things happen to you because of them, could you live with them? No, you can't," explained Swagata in a recent interview.

Before her divorce, Swagata had been married to Rashed for seven years until their eventual separation. During this time, she endured mental and physical pressure and abuse including insults to her parents, which ultimately led to their divorce. Her decision to get married a second time came afterward.

The actress said, "It's difficult for girls to be alone in this society. When I was alone, 16 to even 70 years old pursued me romantically. Many people in the media began to show interest via proposals and I started realising that it was making my professional life difficult. Somehow they thought I would accept them. It was then that I felt like I wanted a proper partner. I then fell in love again and got married for the second time."

However, being an actress has its certain disadvantages, told Swagata, "In showbiz, actresses often have to face various questions about marriage and divorce much more than male actors. I had to tolerate negative remarks involving, 'actresses aren't marriage materials', 'why can't they save their families', etc."

"I am the only celebrity among my school friends; eighty percent of them have been divorced. Divorce is common in the present society. But whenever something happens to us (celebrities), the public creates negative reactions. Because of their remarks, I have suffered. I might be a celebrity, but I still wanted to get married," she said.

"I had endured patiently in my previous marriage. I tried to make everything right. But it didn't work. I realised, no one has the right to control you. No one can beat you up. I have been protesting against domestic violence since childhood, yet I have suffered so much psychological and physical abuse for seven years."

Swagata also addressed that she gets negative remarks from male and female audiences and friends but it is the women's outlook towards her that hurts her most. "Women should be more empathetic toward each other since they should be able to relate more regarding scrutiny," Swagata said. "I can understand when men pass bad comments to me, but why would women do that? Don't they know how difficult it is for us already? I think it's uncalled for and should be handled with caution," she expressed.

"My ex-husband used to disrespect me and tell people that he respects women a lot. How can I tolerate these hypocrisies? He used to beat me up at home but almost always used to be nice to the women in his professional sphere. I have never spoken about personal matters, I don't want to. I would request the naysayers to stop talking gibberish about my divorce. Speak logically. Don't blame anyone without knowing the actual story."