Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Somy Ali, Zeenat Aman, Kangna Ranaut, Laila Khan, Pooja Bhatt, Dimpy Ganguly and Vijaylakshmi, what could probably connect all the above women? Apart from their association with the world of films and glamour, all of them have also been victims of domestic violence.

Recently, actor Aamir Khan eloquently tackled the issue of domestic violence on the seventh episode of his TV show Satyamev Jayate. On the show, we had a counselor, a social worker, a doctor, victims of violence and even men who had physically abused their wives, girlfriends or fiancés. Unfortunately, though, Aamir not once mentioned or spoke about his female colleagues, from the film industry, who were victims of domestic violence.

In a country that idolizes its film stars and is obsessed with celebrity culture, when men see a Salman Khan get away after abusing three of his ex-girlfriends - Somy Ali, Katrina Kaif and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, abusing women is associated with masculinity.

Salman is infamous for his temper, one of his earliest victims was Pakistani actress Somy Ali who he dated for almost five years, but the two split up in the late 90's after the infamous cola episode, where Salman apparently in a fit of rage poured a drink on her at a party. However, it was his continued harassment of his next girlfriend Aishwarya, which proved the actor probably had an anger issue. In 2000, Aishwarya's parents filed a police complain accusing Salman of stalking Aishwarya, threatening her and trying to forcefully enter the Rai household. They reported that Salman broke the windowpanes and furniture panes in their house. The scandal peaked in early 2002, when an agitated Salman stormed onto the sets of Aishwarya's film, pushed the actress to the ground, prompting intervention from spectators, who demanded he leave. Before departing, Khan backed his car into another automobile - Aishwarya's, by some reports -- leaving the witnesses shocked and, in the case of our fair heroine, bruised to boot. Salman even destroyed the sets of Shah Rukh Khan's Chalte Chalte, which resulted in Aishwarya being sacked from the film. He later, also threatened Aishwarya's boyfriend Vivek Oberoi. In any other country, all this would be enough for an arrest; however, nobody ever talks about it. Rather, Salman's brothers and friends from the industry have often implied, "He is short tempered but he has a good and big heart" - a classic explanation many abusers use. These days Salman even fronts a charity called Being Human, but accepting his anger problem and apologizing to his victims has never happened.

After denying the physical abuse for years, Aishwarya in a tell all interview to the Indian newspaper Times of India admitted, "After we broke up, he would call me and talk rubbish. He also suspected me of having affairs with my co-stars. I was linked with everyone, from Abhishekh to Aamir to Shah Rukh. There were times when Salman got physical with me, luckily without leaving any marks. And I would go to work as if nothing had happened." Aishwarya publicly issued a statement that she would never work with Salman again. In 2009, Salman was in the news after he apparently slapped his now ex-girlfriend Katrina at a popular coffee shop.

Despite Salman's abusive nature, Bollywood and the film industry in India has always supported him and often painted his victims as users and manipulators who latched on to Salman to make it big.

Similarly, when yesteryears actor Sanjay Khan and his wife Zarine hit actress Zeenat Aman in the lobby of a five star hotel, they both got away scot-free. Despite the fact, that the incident had left Zeenat with a badly injured eye, remnants of which still remain. Zeenat's beating was justified by saying she deserved it for trying to break Sanjay and Zarine's marriage.

More recently, Kangna filed a police complaint against actor Aditya Pancholi. Reportedly, Kangna was in a relationship with the much-married Aditya, who helped her get a head start in the film industry. However, once Kangna was successful she no longer wanted to continue her relationship with Aditya. An incensed Aditya, apparently, barged into Kangna's apartment, roughed her up, and destroyed some of her property. Unfortunately, while Aditya got off scot free, Kangna was painted as the "gold-digger" who got what "she deserved".

We are not sure if the actresses and celebrities mentioned in this article are the only women to have been victims of violence, there may be many cases that go unreported. Glorifying the male perpetrator and making his victim feel she invited the abuse and deserved it, only gives more societal acceptance and justifies violence. In a patriarchal society as India the ramifications of which can be seen in the extent of domestic violence – according to a recent study it is estimated that between 20 and 50 per cent of women have experienced physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner or family member. Unless, men who are glorified for their masculinity are not punished for their abusive power, targeting men that are uneducated, illiterate, stressed and "don't know better" is not going to solve the problem.

The image used is a picture of Aishwarya from her film Provoked, where she played the victim of domestic violence.