The TV drama Hadsa that was caught in a storm of criticism over apparent portrayal of the motorway rape case has been banned by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.

A notificaiton issued by the Authority said that the broadcast and rebroadcast of the drama is prohbited immediately.

It added that the matter had been referred based on ‘public outrage and sentiments’. A complaint had also been lodged by lawyer Khadija Siddiqui.

The notification said that people had complained that the drama could not only trigger the trauma of the incident in the mind of the victim but also ‘tarnish’ the image of the country. It added that it could lead to Pakistan being seen as unsafe for women.

The authority also said that it observed the story of the drama to be ‘highly inappropriate, disturbing, and not depicting the true picture of Pakistani society.’

Hadiqa Kiani has denied claims that the story of the new drama serial ‘Hadsa’ was related to the 2020 motorway rape incident. She plays the lead role in the drama.

“After many conversations with the team and only after reading the script I understood that Hadsa was not related to or based off of the 2020 motorway story,” she said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday.