India

Delhi gangrape: Centre bans interview, cops file FIR against unknown persons

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MUKESH-SINGH

New Delhi: The NDA government has decided to take strong action in the matter related to the comments made by December 16 gangrape convict Mukesh Singh in an interview to BBC, in which he has blamed the victim for the brutal gangrape where the 23-year-old succumbed to her injuries.

While the information and broadcasting ministry has advised all news channels not to carry the interview (an advisory has been sent in this regard), the Delhi Police swung into action and registered an FIR against “unknown persons” under the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology (IT) Act for offences ranging from outraging the modesty of a woman by way of words or gestures to depiction of women in poor light. Mukesh, who was awarded the death penalty for the brutal rape and murder of the 23-year-old student, is now likely to face fresh charges following his remarks against rape victims.

Home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday took strong exception to a British filmmaker interviewing December 16 gangrape convict Mukesh Singh in Tihar jail, and sought a detailed report from the jail chief on the whole issue.

Taking the incident of the convict being interviewed in custody very “seriously”, the home minister spoke to Tihar jail Director General Alok Kumar Verma and sought a detailed report on it urgently, official sources said. During the telephonic conversation, the DG briefed the Home Minister about the incident and the action taken so far, sources said
An internal inquiry has been ordered in the MHA to establish if there has been any slip-up on the part of government officials or Tihar Jail authorities in allowing the foreign media access to interview a convict lodged inside the premises of the jail.

While the home minister is likely to make a suo motu statement in Parliament on the issue on Wednesday, the MHA is collecting all the facts and preparing a detailed report of the chronology and sequence of events of the communication between the MHA and Tihar Jail authorities allowing access to the foreign media.

The parents of the December 16 gangrape victim reacted angrily to the remarks made by Mukesh Singh in the interview where he seeks to blame their daughter for the horrific incident, calling it shameful and demanded that he be hanged.

In the interview, Mukesh said that women who went out at night had only themselves to blame if they attracted the attention of molesters. However, filmmaker Leslee Udwin claimed that the documentary, India’s Daughter, tells the story of the Delhi gangrape incident from the perspective of the convicts and victim’s parents.

The filmmaker asked the people not to have pre-conceived notions about the movie, which will premiere in India on March 8 on an Indian television channel.

“The film ends with global statistics around the world, country by country. Rape is not an Indian problem. It’s a global problem,” she told reporters.

‘film is very serious’

British filmmaker Leslee Udwin, whose latest film on December 16 gangrape has created furore in India for showing the interview of one of the convicts, on Tuesday said the film is her attempt to examine the attitude of men towards women.

“I wrote a letter to DG of Tihar. The DG of Tihar had to consult with MHA. The letter basically stated that it was a campaigning film. I had applied for permission in May 2013 and I got a positive answer in two weeks. Official permission of MHA had also come. Permission from the prison was also signed,” she said.

“We took a lot of time to make the film, almost two years. If we had something sensational, then we would have thrown it out immediately. There is nothing sensational about the film. It’s a very serious campaigning film in the public interest. It’s designed to see the change,” she said.

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