BBC Online :
Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh has promised an inquiry into how a TV crew gained permission to interview one of the Delhi gang rapists on death row.
He criticised the film in parliament, saying it should not be shown in India. A Delhi court has already blocked the film, made for the BBC and NDTV.
Film-maker Leslee Udwin said the jail and home ministry had given her permission to conduct the interview.
She spoke to one of four men sentenced to death
over the 2012 rape and murder. The killing of the 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi caused shock and revulsion around the world.
Udwin interviewed one of the rapists for India’s Daughter, a BBC Storyville documentary due to be broadcast on 8 March, International Women’s Day.
Rapist Mukesh Singh, who along with the three others is facing the death penalty, expressed no remorse in the interview, and blamed the victim for fighting back.
Rajnath Singh told parliament that his government would “not allow any venture that seeks to benefit from this [the Delhi rape] for commercial gain”.
He said the film-makers were asked not to release or screen it until it was approved by the Indian authorities.
Police in Delhi said they had gained an injunction against the film because the rapist’s remarks were “creating an atmosphere of fear and tension”.
In addition, the injunction forbids publication of quotes from the film, or broadcasting any clips.
The BBC’s South Asia correspondent Justin Rowlatt in Delhi says the issue is not just what the convict says, but also whether he should have been given a platform to express his views.
The film-makers have said any attempt to stop the film’s broadcast would be a violation of the right to freedom of expression. They plan to challenge the ban in court.
Businesswoman Anu Agha, a member of the upper house, told parliament that “banning the documentary is not the answer”.
“What the rapist said is the view of many men in India. Let us not pretend all is well,” she said.
Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh has promised an inquiry into how a TV crew gained permission to interview one of the Delhi gang rapists on death row.
He criticised the film in parliament, saying it should not be shown in India. A Delhi court has already blocked the film, made for the BBC and NDTV.
Film-maker Leslee Udwin said the jail and home ministry had given her permission to conduct the interview.
She spoke to one of four men sentenced to death
over the 2012 rape and murder. The killing of the 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi caused shock and revulsion around the world.
Udwin interviewed one of the rapists for India’s Daughter, a BBC Storyville documentary due to be broadcast on 8 March, International Women’s Day.
Rapist Mukesh Singh, who along with the three others is facing the death penalty, expressed no remorse in the interview, and blamed the victim for fighting back.
Rajnath Singh told parliament that his government would “not allow any venture that seeks to benefit from this [the Delhi rape] for commercial gain”.
He said the film-makers were asked not to release or screen it until it was approved by the Indian authorities.
Police in Delhi said they had gained an injunction against the film because the rapist’s remarks were “creating an atmosphere of fear and tension”.
In addition, the injunction forbids publication of quotes from the film, or broadcasting any clips.
The BBC’s South Asia correspondent Justin Rowlatt in Delhi says the issue is not just what the convict says, but also whether he should have been given a platform to express his views.
The film-makers have said any attempt to stop the film’s broadcast would be a violation of the right to freedom of expression. They plan to challenge the ban in court.
Businesswoman Anu Agha, a member of the upper house, told parliament that “banning the documentary is not the answer”.
“What the rapist said is the view of many men in India. Let us not pretend all is well,” she said.
