Outrage in India over gang rapist's remarks

Comments by a convicted gang rapist have enraged women's rights campaigners in India.

Indian women protest against rape

Indian women protest against rape

(Transcript from World News Radio)

One of the men involved in a shocking gang rape in India says the victim should not have fought back.

The convicted rapist also says the woman shouldn't have been out alone.

The comments, made in a British documentary, have enraged women's rights campaigners in India.

Sacha Payne reports.

(Click on audio tab to listen to this report)

It was a brutal crime that sparked global outrage over what's been called an epidemic of violence against Indian women.

A 23-year-old student on a night out to see a movie with a male friend was gang-raped on a Delhi bus in December 2012.

She died two weeks later from horrific internal injuries in a Singapore Hospital.

Four perpetrators were sentenced to death for the crime.

Now one has told a British film crew, it was the woman's fault she was raped.

In an interview for the BBC documentary "India's Daughter", Mukesh Singh says a decent girl won't roam around at nine o'clock at night.

He says a girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy and when being raped, she shouldn't fight back and "allow" the rape.

Barkha Shukla from India's National Commission for Women, says Singh should be immediately executed.

"This is very shameful and unfortunate that a convict who is on a death row, who is responsible for a rape which shook the entire nation, has the courage to say things like this. I would like to request the judiciary and the government that he should be hanged immediately."

The victim's father wants to know what has prompted the comments.

"We should try to understand why he is saying this. What is prompting him to say this? He is sending a clear message to the country that girls should not be educated."

The gang rape sparked heated public debate about women's roles in India.

The perpetrators were fast-tracked through the courts and tougher laws have led to more victims coming forward.

Documentary film maker Leslee Udwin, says she was inspired by India's response to the gang rape.

"Now what got me to do that documentary was the protests. The extraordinary, inspiring, momentous expression of determination to see change, by all of you, ordinary men and women out on the streets and the media supporting them and the media understanding that their cries have to be heard as loudly as possible."

The film was scheduled to be broadcast on International Women's Day.

But Indian police have blocked the interview's broadcast and the government is asking how the film-makers were given access to the prisoner.

The convicted man's lawyer, AP Singh appears unapologetic.

"As far as Mukesh's comments about the victim are concerned, I don't agree with them. But whatever he has said about the public at large is very important and something that the society needs to take note of, I appreciate that."

 

 


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