Real Life

“A girl is more responsible for rape than a boy”

WARNING: Content contains graphic and disturbing cases of sexual assault.

One of the rapists responsible for the shocking murder of young Indian woman, Jyoti Singh Panfey, has blamed her for the attack because she should not have been out at night.

In defending the indefensible the man appeared on an ABC documentary last night in which the shocking truth around India’s attitude to women was laid bare.

Jyoti, 23 was a medical student who had gone to see the movie, Life of Pi, with a male friend. It was about 8.30pm when the movie finished and the pair boarded a private bus.

Six men aboard the bus brutally raped and murdered Jyoti. They also beat her male, friend though he survived the attack.

“A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy,” says Mukesh Singh the now 28-year-old man facing death by hanging for rape and murder of Jyoti.

“A decent girl won’t roam around at 9 o’clock at night… You can’t clap with one hand. It takes two hands to clap.”

In the documentary, India’s Daughter, which took two years to create, film maker Leslee Udwin speaks to Mukesh inside his prison cell.

Here he reveals the graphic and disturbing events of December 16, 2012.

“I was driving the bus. They switched off the lights. My brother was the main guy,” Mukesh says clear-eyes.

“They hit the boy and he just hid between the seats. The girl was screaming, ‘Help me! Help me!’ My brother said, ‘Don’t stop the bus. Keep driving!’

“They hit her and dragged her to the back. Then they went in turns. First the juvenile and Ram Singh. After that, Akshay and the rest went. Someone put his hand inside her and pulled out something long. It was her intestines.

“He said, “She’s dead. Throw her out quickly.” First, they tried the back door, but it didn’t open. So they dragged her to the front. They threw her out. My drunk state wore off completely. I couldn’t even control the steering. I only drove the bus.

“We reached home in about 10 minutes. We agree no one would say anything, and if the police got involved, no one would name names. There was a lot of blood. Blood on the seats, blood on the floor. Akshay and the juvenile both cleaned the bus. Vinay had a lot of blood on his hands. He washed them at my house. I went to sleep.”

Mukesh says Jyoti was murdered because she protested the rape instead of allowing it to happen.

“When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back,” Mukesh says. “She should just be silent and allow the rape. Then they’d have dropped her off after doing her.”

Indian women protesting after Jyoti was murdered.

Four Corners last night reported Indian authorities have banned the film, which was set to air on national broadcast.

Indian officials are claiming broadcasting such an interview would encourage and promote the rape and murder of women, rather than prevent it.

The documentary concludes however that Jyoti’s shocking murder was not in vain as the outcry over it has finally sparked a movement for change.

A vigil for Jyoti.

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