Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
As It Happens

Lawyer wants ban, says rape doc encourages sexual violence

One of India's most prominent lawyers is defending the Indian government's decision to ban the film "India's Daughter." The documentary is about the 2012 gang rape of a woman on a bus in New Delhi, and features a jail house interview with one of the convicted rapists.
CBC News ·
(BBC)
As It Happens7:56Lawyer says India rape documentary is 'immoral'

A prominent Indian lawyer says the documentary India's Daughter -- about the gang rape and murder of a 23 year old New Delhi woman -- is dangerous and immoral. Leslee Udwin's film was set to be broadcast this week in India, but was banned after a wave of outrage.

What's causing concern is an interview with one of the men convicted in the attack, conducted in his death row prison cell. In the interview, Mukesh Singh expresses no remorse, and even blames the victim for fighting back. 

Chivalry is not dead in this country...people respect women.- Lawyer Dushyant Dave

Lawyer and president of India's Supreme Court Bar Association Dushyant Dave tells As It Happens host Carol Off that he supports the ban on the film. He says, "It's indecent, it's immoral, and it can further incite violence against women...I don't think any civilized society should see it."

Dave says the documentary is an unfair portrayal of men's attitudes toward women in India. He tells Carol, "We are a billion plus nation. One sadistic person, if he has a particular viewpoint, it does not reflect on society in general. I don't think it's necessary for society to know the views of such loonies."

A still from the death row interview with convicted rapist and murderer Mukesh Singh, from the documentary "India's Daughter."
​

In an interview with NDTV, Leslee Udwin defended her decision to include the interview with convicted rapist Mukesh Singh. She said, "I knew that to get a meaningful answer to the question 'why do men rape?' I had to go to the source. I had to hear it from them." 

British filmmaker Leslee Udwin addresses a press conference on her documentary film "India's Daughter." (Altaf Qadri/Associated Press)

Udwin says her film highlights a deeper problem in Indian society.

"Isn't it important to know that these men have zero remorse? Why do they feel it's acceptable? Because our society makes it acceptable. You tell men that women are of no value, of course they are going to do what they want with her. Why not?"

Udwin has said before that she herself is a victim of rape, though not in India. Dave lashes out at the filmmaker asking, "Why doesn't she interview her own rapist?"

The documentary India's Daughter will be broadcast on CBC's The Passionate Eye on Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 10 PM ET/PT. You can watch the trailer below. 

    

More from this episode