The 4-km ‘petition’: Why the world’s longest saree is unfurling at Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda to challenge India’s marital rape laws

“Last year, there was a case where a man sexually assaulted his wife, including forced and unnatural intercourse, which ultimately led to her death. The court acquitted him because of the marital rape exception in Indian law. We knew we had to do something,” said Supreet K Singh, filmmaker and co-founder and CEO of Red Dot Foundation. She was referring to a February 2025 verdict by the Chhattisgarh High Court, which set free a 40-year-old man convicted by a trial court in 2019 of rape and unnatural sex with his wife. The woman died within hours of the alleged assault.

“That’s when the idea of the Infinite Saree took shape. A saree is intimate, familiar, and deeply tied to womanhood in this country,” she said, adding that it speaks of strength and resilience, and also of what women are expected to carry in silence.

The Infinite Saree on display at the Royal Opera House. 

She reached out to fashion designer Nivedita Saboo. “Together, we designed a four-kilometre-long saree, making it the longest saree in the world, surpassing the previous Guinness World Record of 3.7 kilometres. The idea was for it to be remembered as the longest living petition, shaped like a woman’s attire,” said Singh, for whom the saree is a response to that silence.

“Laws are made behind closed doors, but real change happens when the public is emotionally moved and begins demanding it,” she said. The fabric functions as a public archive. Printed and embroidered across it are the signatures of petitioners, along with stark phrases such as “This is not right”, “My rights are human rights” and “Consent does not end at marriage”.

QR codes embedded into the textile lead viewers to an online petition that has already gathered over 5,400 signatures. The goal is to reach 50,000 signatures by the end of March, when Singh plans to take the petition to the judiciary.

At the Royal Opera House unveiling, where the saree wrapped the historic building inside and out in a single, unbroken stretch, visitors paused to read the embroidered pallu. The dialogues stitched in thread echoed conversations many still hesitate to have aloud.

“One moment that stayed with me was when the mother of a trans man came up to thank me. You could see she was carrying her own untold story. Another was a father who came with his daughters and said, ‘I want the law to see them equally,’” said Singh, adding that these were people from South Bombay — privileged, influential people — who had never spoken about this issue before.

The Kala Ghoda installation, which will be there till February 8, is expected to amplify these encounters. With footfalls reaching nearly 10 lakh during the festival, organisers hope the saree will reach audiences beyond policy circles — students, families, tourists, and first-time festival-goers.

QR codes embedded into the Infinite Saree help lead viewers to an online petition that has already gathered over 5,400 signatures. The goal is to reach 50,000 signatures by March-end.

“Not everyone is comfortable lending their voice to issues like marital rape,” Singh acknowledged. “But visibility creates conversation, and conversation creates pressure.” The campaign has also brought actor Rahul Bhatt on board as its brand ambassador. “Having a male campaign ambassador helps bring the other half — the men — into the conversation,” she said, recalling Bhatt’s remarks at the unveiling that men often hide behind silence, and that this silence needs to change.

Red Dot Foundation’s work has long relied on data to drive change. Born in the aftermath of the 2012 Nirbhaya case, the organisation launched Safe City, an anonymous reporting platform for sexual violence in public spaces, formally registering as an NGO in 2014. During the Covid-19 lockdowns, the foundation expanded its focus to domestic violence, responding to a surge of calls from women trapped in abusive homes.