“India’s
daughter” these are the two words which have created a controversy in
India. It is a heart-wrenching documentary made by Israeli-born British film
maker - Leslee Udwin. It has provoked grief and anger in India about the
sensitive issue of rape. The documentary is based on the brutal rape of girl known
as Nirbhaya in India. She was brutally raped in a moving bus on 16 December
2012. She was raped by five men and a 17-year-old (“juvenile”) and later was thrown
on to the road. Later she died due to her ghastly injuries.
In the following 30 days, people demonstrated on the
streets in all parts of the nation against rape and demanded death for the
rapists. This film India’s Daughter is to be broadcast on BBC4 on
the International Women’s Day – March 8. It is scheduled to be shown in various
countries including India, Switzerland, Norway and Canada. On 9
March, the film will be screened in New York.
What has shamed the entire nation is the outrageous
comments made in the film by the defence lawyers of the rapists. ML Sharma,
defence lawyer, says, “We have the best culture. In our culture, there is no
place for a woman.” The second defence lawyer, AP Singh, says if his daughter
or sister “engaged in pre-marital activities … in front of my entire family, I
would put petrol on her and set her alight”. These comments are shocking and
have brought shame to our entire nation.
Apart from the comments made by these senseless
lawyers, there are comments by the rapists. While there is no need to give
publicity to rapists by showing their interviews, on the other hand we also get
to know the sickening mindset of such people, who rape and brutalize women.
Home minister Rajnath Singh told the Rajya Sabha
that a restraining order had been obtained against the interview's telecast,
and a report has been sought from Tihar Jail where the rapist was incarcerated.
The government has taken a serious view of the matter and sought an explanation
from Tihar Jail authorities about who allowed the interview. "Our
government condemns the incident of 2012. The government has taken necessary
action and secured a court order restraining telecast of the film," the
minister said. But may be the action taken by the government is already too
late. The outrageous comments of the rapist Mukesh Singh are already out in
media in which he blamed the victim for her rape and death.
Akshay Thakur, Vinay
Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh were found guilty for the gang rape and
murder of Nirbhaya and were sentenced to death. The fifth accused Ram
Singh was found hanging in his cell in Tihar Jail. The sixth accused was a
juvenile and found guilty by the juvenile justice board. He was sent to a
juvenile correctional facility for about three years.
The rapist Mukesh Singh
said the women who went out at night had only themselves to blame if they
attracted the attention of gangs of male molesters. He also said that had the
girl and her friend not tried to fight back, the gang would not have inflicted
the savage beating, which led to her death later. He also said, "When
being raped, she shouldn't fight back. She should just be silent and allow the
rape. Then they'd have dropped her off after 'doing her', and only hit the
boy." Describing the gruesome act, he also told, “The juvenile put his
hand in her and pulled out something. It was her intestines …We dragged her to
the front of the bus and threw her out.”
All these comments are so shocking and show the
mindset of such criminals. In this film, the film maker has also interviewed
another rapist Gaurav, a 34-year-old man serving 10 years for raping a
five-year-old. He too had no remorse rather he declared, “She was a beggar
girl, her life was of no value.”
These comments show the mindset of men about women.
According to estimates, a rape occurs in India every 20 minutes. In England and
Wales, 85,000 women are raped every year. In Denmark one in five women has
experienced a sexual assault. So, it is not the problem only prevalent in
India. But being an Indian I feel ashamed by such incidents in our society. Gender-inequality,
rape, trafficking, child marriage, female foeticide and honour killings, a
female is the victim every where. There is no lack of stringent laws but the
problem is there implementation.
Article 14 of the Indian Constitution confers
absolute equal rights on women. But in actual practice there is no
equality, which is a blot on our 21st century India. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government
of India on Tuesday evening issued a notice to all television channels asking
them not to broadcast the Nirbhaya documentary. Despite the prohibiting orders from
court, Udwin, a rape victim herself, said the film would be released worldwide
as planned. It will be shown in India on NDTV at 21:00 local time on March 8th.
Here, a question worth asking is even if we ban the
film, can we turn away our faces from the horrible crimes that are committed
against women. If such criminals are awarded death sentences then why there is
such a delay which defeats the very purpose of our laws? A film “India’s daughter” might be banned but in
reality it is not the film but the real India’s daughter who is in danger.
Courtesy: http://www.theguardian.com, https://in.news.yahoo.com,
http://zeenews.india.com/,
http://www.bbc.com/
, www.ndtv.com
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