London, 5 March 2015: We watch the BBC documentary on 2012 Delhi gang rape which shows the harrowing incident that shock the world, the rape & murder of student on a bus in Delhi at night of 16 December 2012. Showing the narrations of victim’s parents, accused, parents of accused, police officers, public and women from various organisations. BBC Four titled the documentary as “India’s Daughter”, the story of Jyoti Singh. The film was made with the cooperation of Asha and Badri Sngh, the rape victim’s parents. The film completion, Delhi court blocked the showing of the film in India.
00:51 –
The film has been made with the cooperation of Asha and Badri Sngh, the rape victim’s parents. The film completion, Delhi court blocked the showing of the film in India. Documentary starts from the scene of 16 December 2012. In which at around 8:30 pm, a 23 year old medical student was on her way home from a movie with his male friend. The couple boarded a private bus which was going their way. Her friend was badly beaten and she was dragged to back where she was gang-rapped by six men as the bus drove round and round on the highways. According to the latest government figures, a women is raped in India every 20 minutes but most rapes are unreported. This rape led to unprecedented protests, erupting across India. Showing the protest footage of over 1000 men and women on streets.
02:35 –
Her parents shows the childhood pictures of their daughter. Her mother says, “Jyoti would open my eyes as I slept. She’d call out, “Mummy, Mummy!”. Her father says, “She’d hold my finger as we walked. She’d ask, “Why has the moon come out?” What answer could I giver her?”. Meaning of Jyoti in english is light, so her parents believed they were given a gift of light ad happiness when she was born. In rural places of India, people don’t rejoice much when a girl is born as compared to birth of a boy. But her parents were very happy with her birth. Her mother says it was her childhood dream to become a doctor.
Father says, “My brother is a judge. So I said, “You also become a judge.” She said, “Papa, isn’t there anything above a judge?” I said, “Not that I know of. You tell me.” She said, “No one is above a doctor.” Her family didn’t have that much money to pay for a medical college. So she said to her father that whatever money you’ve saved for my wedding, use that to educate me. Her parents realised that and sold their ancestral land for her studies which father’s brothers didn’t like doing so much for a girl.
04:23 –
Documentary shifts to the narration of Satendra who was Jyoti’s tutor and close friend. He says, “In 2006, Jyoti’s mother asked me to tutor her daughter. Jyoti’s family is traditional. But their thinking is modern. Jyoti used to say that the first and biggest problem in India is mentaliy. The differences between a girl and a boy are created in people’s minds from birth. In society, if we hear the same things about boys and girls, obviously a certain view is created”.
05:26 –
Then comes the scene of Tihar Jail in Delhi. Mukesh aged 28 who was the driver that night has been convicted of rape, unnatural sex and murder. He has been sentenc to death by hanging. He futher narrates the whole incident sitting in jail room. He says, “You can’t clap with one hand. It takes two hands to clap. A decent girl won’t roam around at 9pm in night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy”.
06:24 –
Jyoti studied at medical college named Sai Institute of Paramedical & Allied Sciences in Dehradun tells her tutor. He further said, “Her family was very poor. Her father worked as a labourer at the airport. She had to work part-time to pay for hostel expenses. Her english was really good. So she worked night shifts in an international call centre. She worked from 8pm until 4am. I asked her, “How can you manage all this?” She said, “I have to. And I can!”. She would sleep just 3 or 4 hours a night. Her dreams were big, she wanted to help the poor. She wanted to build a hospital in her ancestral village where there was no medical facilities. She always used to say, “A girl can do anything.”
07:29 –
Accused Mukesh 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 the wrong clothes. About 20% of girls are good”.
07:49 –
M.L. Sharma, defence lawyer for the rapists says, “A female is just likea flower. It gives a good-looking, very softness performance, pleasant. But on the other hand, a man is just like a thorn. Strong, tough enough. That flower always needs protecion. If you put that flower in a gutter, it is spoilt. If you put that flower in a temple, it will be worshipped.”
08:27 –
Showing Ram Singh, main accused in Jyoti’s rape and murder. He is the brother of Mukesh. Telling about Ram, Mukesh says, “After alcohol, he’d break all the limits. He was capable of anything”. Then showing Vinay Sharma, convicted of Jyoti’s rape and murder. Mukesh says, “Vinay was always fighting. There is nothing good about him. He worked as a helper in a gym and used to fight a lot. Once he beat up a guy so badly that he had internal injuries. He used to take injections to increase his power. Once he took a double dose and couldn’t be controlled. He used to chase after girls and harass them.
Showing Pawan Gupta, convicted of Jyoti’s rape and murder, Mukesh says, “Pawan had a fruit stall. And he also liked to fight. He used to hang out in the bus, chat and roam around with us”. Then comes the light on another convict Akshay Thakur, Mukesh says, “Akshay also used to help on the bus. He’d clean, wake my brother, make tea, bring milk. He has a wife and baby. He cries and asks, “What will happen?” The 17 year old juvenile (name hidden due to adolescent) who was convicted for Jyoti’s rape & murder is also shown with mask. His case is separate in the Juvenile Justice Board. Mukesh says, “He also helped on the bus. He used to clean. He was very sharp at tricking people onto the bus”.
10:47 –
Showing Ravidas Colony, R.K. Puram, a semi-slum area of New Delhi where Mukesh and his brother lived. Their house number is 49. Pawan and Vinay also lived there. Mukesh says, “On the day of the incident on 16th December, the juvenile came for the first time since he left the job on the bus. Akshay was hanging out at our place. He had just washed the bus. My brother came around 5:30pm. Akshay said to my brother, “Let’s cook. I’ve brought alcohol.” So he drank alot. Heavy drinking. My brother and Akshay drank a whole bottle. We met Vinay and Pawan with my brother. And went out to party. They said, “We’ve got money. Let’s go to GB Road and have some fun.” GB Road, that’s where wrong things are done.”
12:30 –
Her mother says, “She had just finished her final exams and had come home.” Her home is in Dwarka. She was happy because her course was finished. According to her father, “It was 16th December just a normal Sunday. I got up, had tea and put cloths in the washing machine. She told her mother to help me while she cooked food. She had 6 months of internship. After that, all our sorrows would end. Happiness was a few steps ahead.” Mother says her course was ended and she was happy to start her work soon. But it seems that God didn’t like this and he ended everything there. She further says her friend Awnindra called from Select Citywalk Mall at Saket, “During the call she said, “Mummy, I’ll go see a film. On Monday, I start my internship, so I won’t have free time.” As she left, she said, “Bye, Mummy. I’ll be back in 2 or 3 hours.”
13:48 –
Jyoti’s tutor Satendra says, “Jyoti’s friend wanted to see an action film. But Jyoti chose “Life of Pi”.
14:24 –
Defence laywer M.L. Sharma says, “That girl was with some unknown boy who took her on a date. In our society, we never allow our girls to come out from the house after 6:30pm or 7:30pm or 8:30pm in the evening with any unknown person.” Another defence laywer for the rapists AP Singh says, “If necessary she should go outside. But she should go with their family members like uncle, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother etc. etc. She should not go in night hours with boyfriend.” Her mother says whenever there’s a crime, the girl is blamed. It’s the boys who should be accused and asked why they do this. M.L. Sharma says. “They left our Indian culture. They were under the imagination of the filmy culture, in which they can do anything.”
15:30 –
Accused Mukesh says, “I haven’t slept with anyone. Just once in the village. We had gone for a wedding. That was my first time. After that, it never happened again. About 5 years ago. People in the village believe that kissing from the mouth is bad. The girl I met in the village said that we won’t kiss. We did it quickly and then left.”
16:00 –
Defence lawyer M.L. Sharma says, “She should not be put on the streets just like food. The ‘lady’, on the other hand, you can say the ‘girl’ or ‘woman’, are more precious than a gem, than a diamond. It is up to you how you want to keep that diamond in your hand. If you put your diamond on the street, certainly the dog will take it out. You can’t stop it.” Her tutor on the other hand says going out for a movie at night with friend is not a crime. M.L. Sharma further says, “You are talking about man and woman as friends. Sorry, that doesn’t have any place in our society. A woman means I immediately put the sex in his eyes. We have the best culture. In our cultue, there is no place for a woman.”
16:48 –
The narration of the incident starts from here. Mukesh says, “The 15 or 20 minutes of the incident, I was driving the bus. They switched off the lights. My brother was the main guy. The hit the boy and he just hid between the seats. The girl was screaming, “Help me! Help me!” My brother sais, “Don’t stop the bus. Keep driving!” They hit her and dragged her to the back. Then they went in turns. First the juvenile and Ram Singh. After that, Akshay and the rest went. Someone put his hand inside her and pulled out something long. It was her intestines. He said, “She’s dead. Throw her out quickly.” First, they tried the back door, but it didn’t open. So they dragged her to the front. They thew her out. My drunk state wore off completely. I couldn’t even control the steering. I only drove the bus. It’s lies that my brother or Akshay took the steering. Only I drove. People say this happened, that happened, that the driver was changed. Show me how we changed drivers, and I’ll accept I also went to the back and killed her.
18:47 –
Showing Mange Lal, Mukesh and Ram Singh’s father, he says, “It was Akshay Thakur and the juvenile’s fault. They brough alcohol in the bus.” Mukesh’s mother Kalyani says, “We weren’t here. We were in the village. We’ve no idea what did or didn’t happen.” Their father interrupts saying, “It’s the fault of those four. Vinay, Pawan, Akshay and the juvenile. Every Sunday juvenile is with Ram Singh” Their mother interrupts, “Nobody was there.”
19:22 –
Accused Mukesh says, “We went straight home. They were saying, “Where’s their stuff?” It was in front. The mobile, the watch. Pawan put the shoes on, Akshay put the jacket on. They wore the stuff. They had no fear. And on the way, the juvenile said, “Sir, I threw it away. What I pulled out of her body, I threw it away. I wrapped it in cloth and threw it out.” We reached home in about 10 minutes. We agreed no one would say anything, and if the police got involved, no one would name names. There was a lot of blood. Blood on the seats, blood on the floor. Akshay and the juvenile both cleaned the bus. Vinay had a lot of blood on his hands. He washed them at my house. I went to sleep.”
20:27 –
Leila Seth, former chief justice and member of rape review committee says that the rape was extremely brutal. Mukesh says, “I can’t say why this incident – this accident – happened. Mainly to teach them a lesson.”
20:58 –
Dr. Maria Misra, writer & historian of Oxford University, Keble College says, “I idea of the gang rape is to send a message. You are not to breach this boundary. This is boundary between us and you to do with power.” Lawyer M.L. Sharma says, “He would like to create a damage. He will put his hand… insert, hit! It is just like that kind of action. Beat him. Putting his hand forcefully inside.”
21:23 –
Showing Dr. Sandeep Govil, jail psyschiatrist of the rapists, he says, “The main mental set-up is, “It’s our right. We are just in enjoyment mode and everbody has a right to enjoyment. Big people, you know, somebody who has money, do it by payment. We have the courage, so we do it by our courage. That’s what they feel.”
21:39 –
Mukesh says, “My brother has done such things before, but this time his intention was not to rape or fight. He had the right to explain to them. He asked the boy why he was out with a girl so late at night. The boy said, “It’s none of your business,” and slapped him. There was fighting, beating. Those who raped, raped. They though that if they do “wrong things” with them, then they won’t tell anyone. Out of shame. They’d learn a lesson.”
22:18 –
Dr. Maria Misra comments, “Before this event there was still a very very strong culture of shame around rape. That to be raped is deeply shaming. Being raped is worse then to be dead. She is walking corpse.”
22:41 –
Mukesh says, “When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape. Then they’d dropped her off after doing her, and only hit the boy.”
22:54 –
Showing the place where girl was thrown, Raj Kumar a patrolman says, “On December 16th, it was very cold. I was patrolling in this area. I heard a voice from the left screaming, “Help! Help!” I saw a boy and girl lying on the ground naked. I went to Hotel 37 and got a bed sheet and a bottle of water. I tore the bed sheet into two and gave the girl and the boy a piece each. About 30-35 men gathered, but no one helped. I even said, “Please help,” but no one stepped forward. After some time, a PCR van arrived and they were taken to the hospital. She looked like a cow looks after giving birth to a calf.”
23:55 –
There were father tried calling but her phone was not connecting. Then they got a call from Safdarjung hospital. Her father says, “The doctor asked, “Who are you?” I said, “The father.” He asked, “Do you know what’s happened?” I said, “No, just that there’s been a accident.” He said “No, she has been raped.”
24:18 –
Dr. Rashmi Ahuja, Gynaecologist at Safdarjung hospital says, “At around 11:30pm she was brought to the gynae casualty room by the police constables. She was bleeding very much from her vagina so definately she was scared. She was concious but she was not sobbing out of her pain. She was describing everything clearly. She was slapped on her face, she was kicked on her abdomen and she multiple injuries over her body, over her private parts. There were multiple bite marks over her face, over her lips, over her limbs.”
24:28 –
Mukesh had the list of injuries read out to him.
24:53 –
Her mother says, “The surgeon said, “I’ve been practising for 20 years, and we have not come across a case like this. The system by which the human body functions is all gone. He said, “We do not know which parts to join.” To her father they said, “She will not survive more than 2 to 3 hours or 2 to 3 days. Given what’s happened, it’s hard to believe she’s surived. We do not understand how she is alive.” According to her mother, “She saw me and started to cry. I told her not to worry, everything would be alright. I said, “Whatever happens, we are with you.”
25:59 –
Showing the media reports and police taking action.
26:31 –
Pramod Kushwa, Additional Deputy commissioner of Delhi Police says, “We were able to arrest the first accused, we are able to identify the bus within a span time of 24 hours. We checked all the hotels along the route and in one of the hotels there was one particular camera which was facing towards the road. In the CCTV footage of that camera we noticed a bus which had crossed that area twice which was unusual for a bus which was going on a highway and a closer examination of that bus we came to that this bus is a school bus. These were the clues because of which we were able to narrow down our search to 50-60 buses.”
Pratibha Sharma, investigating officer says, “We got a source information that near the gurdwara at Ravidas colony, RK Puram, the bus in which this incident took place was parked. I went there with my team and found the bus and the accused Ram Singh was in the bus. The moment we spotted the bus, he jumped down and started running. We arrested him and he admitted his offence. Four out of the six men were staying in the Ravidas camp. In which Pawan and Vinay, Mukesh and Ram Singh.”
Pramod Kushwa further said, “For the first time in this case we had used dental forensic. The bite marks of the victims matched with the dental impression of the one of the accused. Which was a clinching piece of evidence.”
27:54 –
Mukesh says, “They matched Akshay’s and my brother’s. They were all doing wrong things. All should be punished. I was there and I am also punished.”
28:03 –
Pramod Kushwa says, “Whole idea was that case was so brutal that the conviction, if its earlier it is much more better, it gives a good message to the society.”
28:11 –
Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of All India Progressive Women’s Association said that she learned about the case on the next day and students Jawaharlal Nehru University came out t streets to protest on the same day i.e. 17th December. Dr. Maria Misra also comments that modernity has changed the lives of single women.
29:02 –
Leila Seth says rapes has been done in past but this caught the imagination of the people as it happened in the capital of the city and time was around 8pm which is a general time.
29:22 –
Students protesting and slogan mongering about freedom of a girl.
29:37 –
Pramod Kushwa, Additional Deputy commissioner of Delhi Police says, “I used all the resources of this district, I’ll say strength of more then 2000 persons, they were commanded by the special investigation team and everything was put into this case. There was a juvenile who was convict in law who was subsequently arrested on 21st December. There was another accused Akshay who fled to Bihar. So he was arrested from Bihar on 21st of December. ”
29:56 –
Juvenile’s mother says, “We woke up in the morning. The police came here. They said, “Your son has been caught, he has done such and such.” He’d been gone for three years. I thought he had died somewhere. When the police came, I found out he was still alive.”
30:21 –
Showing the family of Akshay Thakur. His father says, “The police told us to surrended him or family will be destroyed. I surrendered him to the police station.” Puneeta Devi, Akshay’s wife said, “I am sure my husband would not do such a thing. Bad times will pass.” Priyanshu, Akshay’s son was also shown.
30:54 –
Protest by the public shown. Slogans like, long live woman’s freedom! Your freedom, my freedom!
31:07 –
Pramod Kushwa says, “As per criminal procedure code of India, in such cases like murder, rape and all these heinous cases we normally get time permitted for us to file chargesheet is within first 90 days but in this case we had filed chargesheet in 17 days.”
31:43 –
Kavita Krishnan says it was not about rape alone it has become women anger.
32:00 –
Pramod Kushwa says its a absolute safe city like any another capital of developed country.
32:30 –
Kavita Krishnan says it was a accumulated anger which bursts out. Usha Saxena a mother in Delhi and Shambhavi Saxena her daughter said that every women felt the pain of that girl which brought everyone out on streets. They both were stopped while going to India Gate by policemen which led them fight against the policemen for their civil right. Where things went ugly! They sad it was a complete peaceful protest which turned into a stampede in 20 minutes.
34:27 –
Leila Seth says it was a day after day protest for change. Happening for the first time, it was protest of young people without a leader and the media was all over, they showed day by day how the protest is going on which led government to setup a committee.
35:04 –
Dr. Maria Misra says, “Recent report was formation of a special judicial committee charged by the government of India with canvassing all opinion about how the problem of could be dealt with. And 80,000 responses was received through the group of ex-senior judges.” Recommendations came like, things must happen much faster in Indian judicial system, the defination of sexual assault needed to be broadened, the language of modesty & shame needed to be removed from the Indian Penal Code she tells.
Gopal Subramanium, senior advocate of Supreme Court & Co-author of Verma report says, “This was not just about rape & an amendmant to a criminal law, we three were very determined that we are not going to let down our society. Offence is against women was a part of the story, the full story needed to be told. We felt that we would fail the fantastic civil society which gathered around India gate with candles if we did not tell them the true story.”
Leila Seth says it happened due to historical patriarchy. Dr. Maria Misra said females are not treated right in India and also the low sex ratio is to be blamed. Gopal Subramanium said even after tear gas & baton charge the protest didn’t stopped, it was a very important momentous expression of hope by civil society. Dr. Maria Misra such protest was different and I cannot recall an event like this in India before.
38:28 –
Her mother with teary eyes says, “Her condition deteriorated. She was very troubled. She was in great pain. We could not talk. This is what I remember, we were by her side in her last moments, but were helpless to do anything. This is what hurts me so deeply and it’s something I’ll always remember.”
39:07 –
Ambulance take-off to Singapore on 26th December 2012 with the girl. She was admitted to Mount Elizabeth Hospital and Medical Centre, one of the best hospital in the world for trauma management & organ transplant.
39:20 –
Sonia Gandhi, President of Indian National Congress speaking to media, “Our only wish today is that she recovers and that she comes back to us.”
39:28 –
Her mother says, “But I knew she would not recover. Because the doctor had said that she will not be okay.”
40:02 –
Her father says, “For a father who once upon a time let his baby girl sleep over him, who held her in his arms and played with her, who held her finger and taught her to walk, to have set fire to that daughter during cremation by his very hands. This is very difficult. The most difficult. When I remember this moment… I’m unable to speak. Words just don’t come out.”
40:33 –
Her mother with teary eyes says, “We never realised how much we were attached to her. But since she’s left us, we’ve no idea how to start life again, where to start from.”
40:55 –
Accused Mukesh says, “I know nothing about her. Now the papers say she was a medical student, so I’m getting to know.”
41:06 –
Her tutor Satendra remembers, “Once she went to the market with her friends. A 10 or 12 year old boy tried to snatch her purse and run away. But a policeman caught him and started beating him. Jyoti stopped the policeman from beating him. She sais, “This child will learn nothing from this.” She asked the boy, “Why did you do this?” He said, “I also want new clothes like you people, I want shoes. I want a hamburger.” Jyoti bought him everything he wanted. And she said, “Promise me you won’t do this again.”
41:58 –
Amod Kanth, head of Prayas, an NGO for rape victims & juveniles says 50% of Indian population is living below poverty line. According to him juvenile who was accused in this case was struggling from proverty which led him took part in gang rape. He ran away from home due at age of 11 due to deprivation.
43:11 –
Juvenile mother says, “I am a labourer in farming. If we get work, we work. Now in rain like this, what work will we get? I have two daughters who are labourers and bring some food home. Nothing has been cooked. We are surviving on tea since morning. His brain is off. He lost his mind and became mad. The dishes haven’t been washed. No point. There’s nothing to eat. He left home aged 11. No one would employ a child as a labourer, so he started washing dishes at a hotel. He used to make 300 to 400 rupees a month. He said, “Mum, what can I do? I can’t stay here. “I need to feed your stomachs.” How could we know that the gangsters of Delhi would get him and take him away from us? A child is just a child.”
44:11 –
Mukesh & Ram Singh’s parents, Mange Lal & Kalyani are shown. Their mother Kalyani says, “What can a hungry person do? We are birth poor and helpless. We were labourers and saved what money we could to raise them.”
44:26 –
Accused Mukesh says he never liked to go to school, just roam around. His elder brother who was an electrician used to beat him or give electric shocks when he was a child. Mukesh further says beating & violence has become the story of every house.
44:56 –
Jail psychiatrist Dr. Sandeep blamed their deprived condition and it was common for them to see women getting assaulted by their male partners or husbands. They also saw prostitution running in their area. All this made them thinking, “Why we?”
45:21 –
Their mother Kalyani shows photograph of her son Ram Singh who committed suicide in special cell of jail number 3 of Tihar Jail at around 5:45am on 11 March 2013.
45:43 –
Her father says, “To call them human is to give humanity a bad name. If we call them monsters, even monsters have some limits. These are totally the devil. They went beyond all limits of evil. Even the devil himself coudn’t commit such a terrible crime.”
46:02 –
Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium says society has to take responsibility of these rapists. Feminist who called them even said that these men are ours. According to jail psychiatrist Dr. Sandeep they are actually normal human beings with anti-social traits in them, which acually manifested very badly at that time. As they easily got away in past after doing such crimes. He says, “There are people in jail who have done 200 rapes and been only punished for about twelve. They say they only remember 200, they might be doing more. That’s the state of affairs. They say that’s been happening and that it’s a “man’s right”. They don’t think of the other person as a human being. The negative cultural values aout women are also very, very important in this type of acts.”
47:13 –
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit says they are brought up in a scene where girl is less important than boy and as she is less important men can do whatever they want. Brother & sister of accused Vinay Sharma are shown.
48:05 –
Verdict of juvenile justice board on 31st August 2013 is shown in which the accused juvenile aged 17 years would serve three years in jail which is a maximum sentence allowed for a juvenile (person under 18 years).
48:27 –
Her father was hurt and shocked after the verdict. He says, “We are like a bird whose wings have been cut. We cannot fly. We live with fear and anxiety.” Her mother says, “If the law thinks it is right to marry a girl at the age 12 or 13, then a 15-16 year old boy who rapes or harms a girl, why can’t he be punished?”
49:09 –
Protest banners and slogan shouting “Hang the rapists! Hand them! Hang them!”.
49:21 –
Defence laywer AP Singh says, “A number of criminal cases of murder, robbery, rape are pending against approximately 250 members of parliament. Sitting members of parliament. But their cases are not being tried in fast-track courts. Their cases are not being tried based on day-to-day hearings. Why? If you want to give a message to society against rape, against robbery, against murder, then you should start from your own neck.”
49:55 –
Head of Prayas, Amod Kanth says public opinion should not become reason for any kind of conviction as India is not that type of country where person are hanged on pole or cut criminal’s hand etc. It’s a democratic & liberal country. We have rich traditions of tolerance also therefore demand of death sentence is not in spirit of India’s history.
50:34 –
Showing, accused taken from the jal to police van on 10th September 2013.
50: 45 –
Accused Mukesh says, “People say, when you hang, they put this on your neck. The eyes pop out, the tongue sticks out, that’s what they say. They’ve made this such a big issue. People have committed bigger crimes, and nothing has happened to them. In Barabanki after the rape, her eyes were taken out. Sometimes they put acid on girls. There was another rape where they burnt her alive. Wasn’t that wrong? If ours is wrong, then that was wrong, too.”
51:33 –
People shouting “Hang them! Hang them! Hang the juvenile also!” as soon as accused comes out from police van. On 2:30pm of December 16, unemployed Mukesh Singh, bus cleaner Akshay Thakur, gym instructor Vinay Sharma and fruit seller Pawan Gupta were sentenced to death. The court declared this to be the rarest of rare cases that warranted the death penalty and stated that the gruesome crimes against women have become rampant.
52:13 –
Defence lawyer AP Singh is shown reacting to ANI, “If my daughter or sister engaged in pre-marital activities and disgraced herself and allowed herself to lose face and character by doing such things, I would most certainly take this sort of sister or daughter to my farmhouse, and in front of my entire family, I would put petrol on her and set her alight.” Speaking to BBC Four he said, “This is my stand. I stil today stand by that reply.”
52:48 –
Her parents are shown leaving the court. Akshay Thakur’s wife Puneeta Devi says, “Am I not a daughter of this country? Don’t I have the right to live? Will there be no more rapes in Delhi? Will you hang all rapists? A woman is protected by her husband. If he’s dead, who wil protect her and for whom will she live? I also don’t want to live. Priyanshu, my son, is a child. He understands nothing. I will strangle him to death. What else can I do?”
53:21 –
Accused Mukesh says, “The death penalty will make things even more dangerous for girls. Now when they rape, they won’t leave the girl like we did. They will kill her. Before, they would rape and say, “Leave her, she won’t tell anyone.” Now when they rape, especially the criminal types, they will just kill the girl. Death.”
53:46 –
Their mother Kalyani in teary eyes says, “We hoped he’s support us in old age, after all our pain to raise him. Isn’t this why everyone raises children? If nothing else, at least he’d perform our last rites and burn our dead bodies. Look at my fate, to have to see him burnt to ashes.
54:17 –
Showing accused Mukesh feeling unfortunate in the jail room.
54:20 –
Her father says, “When I saw them, they had no fear in their eyes, no shame. No remorse at all for what they had done.” Her tutor says, “Those who commit heinous crimes have no remorse afterwards. The law will punish them, and must do so, they’ll be fearless. But if one monster is removed, will the society change? No. The people of this socity and their mind-set need to change.”
55:06 –
Leila Seth says only education can change things. It teaches women, self worth and young men, the value of women. According to his things will change, its just younge people need to push.
55:20 –
Dr. Maria Misra comments, this widely increaed the open debate in India about the relationship of men and women should be.
56:05 –
Her father says, “Our daughter’s name is Jyoti Singh. We have no problem in revealing her name. In fact, we are happy to reveal it. Jyoti (light in english) has become a symbol. In death, she has lit such a torch not only in this country, but throughout the whole world. But at the same time, she posed a question. What is the meaning of a “woman”? How is she looked upon by society today? And I wish that whatever darkness there is in this world should be dispelled by this light.”
Her mother says, “The last thing that she said to me, she took my hands in hers and kissed them and said, “Sorry, Mummy. I gave you so much trouble. I am sorry.” The sound of her breathing stopped, and the lines on the monitor flattened.
57:18 –
Jyoti 1989-2012
57:28 –
Her father says, “This incident was a storm which came and went. And what was there before it, and what will come after, this is what we need to see.”
57:55 –
The case has gone to final appeal at the Indian Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has yet to pass judgement on the original verdict and sentencing. 4 of the perpetrators remain on Death Row. The juvenile is scheduled for release in December 2015.
59:09 –
- Directed and Produced by Leslee Udwin
- Editor, Anuradha Singh
- A UK-India Co-production
- With special thanks to Prannoy and Radhika Roy, Vandana Puri and Narayan Rao, Archive Material courtesy of NDTV
- Supported by The Tribeca Film Institute Influence Film Foundation
- Library footage, Wilderness Films India, ITN Source
58:38
For more, bbc.co.uk/storyville
59:04
BBC – Radio 3 advertisement on celebrating International Women’s Day
59:17
BBC – One advertisement of Panorama, What Britain Wants: Somewhere to Live
59:25 –
BBC – Four advertisement of Saints and Sinners: Britain’s Millenium of Monasteries
