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Delhi Gang Rape Documentary Screened Where Four Convicted Lived

Delhi Gang Rape Documentary Screened Where Four Convicted Lived
AP

After showing 'India's Daughter' in a village near Agra on March 8, Ketan Dixit, an activist, screened the Delhi gang rape documentary on Thursday in Ravidas camp, home to four of the men (one deceased) involved in the brutal sexual assault on a 23-year-old student in 2012.

Earlier this month, the Indian government banned the BBC documentary from being broadcast on TV channels and ordered You Tube to take it down as well. The documentary, which is being screened abroad, has created a storm in India because it features an interview with convicted man, Mukesh, who blames the victim for the rape since she was out in the night with a male friend.

"You can’t clap with one hand--it takes two hands. A decent girl won't roam around at 9 o'clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy," he told BBC in an exclusive video interview. "Boy and girl are not equal. Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes. About 20 per cent of girls are good," he said.

Justifying the ban, the government said such vile views would cause tension and public disorder in the country.

Indian Express reported that over 50 residents of settlements gathered at the chauraha to watch the film. Residents said a projector was connected to a laptop and a white sheet of cloth was put up as a screen. We have seen Mukesh and Vinay grow up. We also know their parents well. We thought that the screening of the film might disturb the camp. Later, we were convinced that it is for our own good and that even our children should watch the film,” a resident told the newspaper.

Dixit told BBC Hindi that he wanted to "show such films in rural areas as only popular Bollywood films reach people living there." "This film is important. Poor people already know about this rape case and they are interested in it. They should get to know the mindset of the rapist in this case," he said.

Dixit has earlier said that his screening are a "mark of protest against the ban" and that he was ready to "face any action that was initiated against him."

After the Agra screening, Dixit was questioned for several hours before being released without charge. But he said that his laptop, projector, and other equipment were seized by the local police.

Delhi police official Rajan Bhagat said "any screening of the film of the film is illegal", and the police had initiated an investigation into the incident, BBC reported.

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