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Mukesh Singh, one of four men convicted of rape.
india's daughter
India refuses to lift ban on BBC gangrape documentary
The Delhi High Court will hear the case on 18 March.
Updated 4.40pm
A COURT IN India has refused to lift a ban on the BBC’s documentary ‘India’s Daughter’.
The BBC reports the Delhi High Court will hear the case on 18 March, following petitions being submitted for the documentary to air.
The programme, made by the BBC and India’s NDTV, features an interview with one of the men convicted for the 2012 gang rape on a bus in Delhi.
Jyoti Singh died from her injuries 13 days after she was savagely attacked on a bus while on her way home from the cinema. The incident triggered violent protests in India.
It was previously banned from on the grounds of “objectionable content”.
Censorship
Leslee Udwin, the award-winning film maker behind the BBC/NDTV project, has called the banning of the film ”arbitrary censorship”.
India’s NDTV network was due to have shown the documentary to mark International Women’s Day. It aired on the BBC on Sunday.
Udwin said she was heart-broken by the ban on the documentary in India.
“I am sure, positive, that NDTV will fight this arbitrary censorship all the way, because it is an organisation that stands up for values, for public welfare and for the greater good,” she said.
The BBC Director of Television, Danny Cohen, wrote a letter to Sh. Rakesh Singh, Joint Secretary of the Government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
We think the film is an important account of an event that galvanized Indian opinion to ensure such tragedies are not repeated.
The BBC reports that three law students have filed two petitions in the high court demanding that the ban be lifted in the interest of freedom of speech.
Originally published 10.40am
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