Storm over interview of Dec 16 gangrape convict

New Delhi, March 3

A British filmmaker's interview of one of the December 16 gangrape convicts for a documentary in which he showed no remorse kicked up a storm today with the government taking a serious view of the matter and seeking an explanation from the Tihar jail authorities.

Meanwhile, the Delhi police on Tuesday said they were going to move court against the broadcast of the documentary. Police Commissioner BSBassi said they had filed an FIR on the basis of media reports.

The parents of the December 16, 2012 gangrape victim reacted angrily to the remarks made by Mukesh Singh in the interview where he seeks to blame their daughter for the incident, calling it shameful and demanded that he be hanged.

The filmmaker Leslee Udwin on her part said the film was her attempt to examine the attitude of men towards women and that there was nothing sensational in it.

Udwin also claimed she took permission from the then Director General of Tihar jail Vimla Mehra before interviewing Mukesh in prison for a television channel.

Taking the incident of the convict being interviewed in custody very "seriously", Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Tihar jail director general (DG) Alok Kumar Verma and sought a detailed report on it urgently, official sources said.

During the telephonic conversation, the DG briefed the Home Minister about the incident and the action taken so far, the sources said.

In the interview, Mukesh, who was awarded death sentence for the brutal rape and murder of the 23-year-old girl, said the women who went out at night had only themselves to blame if they attracted the attention of gangs of male molesters.

"A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy," he had said.

'India's Daughter' tells the story of the Delhi gangrape incident from the perspective of the convicts and victim's parents, Udwin claimed.

The filmmaker asked people not to have any pre-conceived notion about the movie, which will premiere in India on March 8 on another television channel.

"The film ends with global statistics around the world, country by country. Rape is not an Indian problem. It's a global problem," she told reporters. — Agencies