Govt Asks Indian TV Channels Not To Air BBC’s Nirbhaya Documentary

The Government of India, on Tuesday, issued a notice to all television channels in the country, instructing them not to telecast the BBC documentary on the Nirbhaya rape incident.

The documentary is produced by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin and co-produced by Indian television journalist, Dibang. It is based on the brutal rape and murder of a 23-year-old girl in the heart of Delhi on December 16, 2012 by five men and a minor. One of the culprits, Ram Singh, was found hanging in his prison room in Tihar on March 13, 2013.

The documentary, which has a lengthy interview with one of the rapists – Mukesh Singh – is due for broadcast on March 8, International Women’s Day; on BBC4 and various other channels in seven countries. NDTV was also supposed to air the documentary.

But according to a Huffington Post report, the Delhi police had obtained a restraining order from the court against the airing of the documentary. The order said, “British filmmaker Leslee Udwin from BBC interviewed Mukesh Singh… in which he had made offensive and derogatory remarks against women creating an atmosphere of fear and tension with the possibility of public outcry and law and order situation. …the court has passed order prohibiting the publication/transmission of the interview till further orders.”

However, many women organisations have come out in support of the film. The victim’s parents, Asha and Badrinath Singh, have also supported the documentary.

In the interview with BBC, Mukesh Singh says, “You can’t clap with one hand – it takes two hands…a decent girl won’t roam around at 9 o’clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy.” He also says, “Boy and girl are not equal. Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes. About 20 per cent of girls are good.”