Documentary On Hathras, Unnao Cases, 'India's Rape Scandal' To Be Screened In UK

A documentary by Emmy-winning investigative journalist Ramita Navai titled India's Rape Scandal will be aired on Tuesday on UK's Channel 4. The documentary directed, filmed, and produced by Jess Kelly focuses on the process of 'systemic coverage' of the crime in India.

The film produced under the banner of Quicksilver Media production delves into the two rape cases — Unnao rape of a minor by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in 2017 and the Hathras gangrape case of a Dalit woman by four upper-caste men in 2020—  in Uttar Pradesh.

While speaking to The Quint about India's Rape Scandal, Navai said that the two cases enabled them to examine how despite Prime Minister Modi’s assurances and protestations, rapists are still getting away with the crime in 2021 India. The journalist asserted that it’s because of  “systematic cover-ups and officials’ complicity” in defending the powerful rapists as well as “protecting the vote bank”.

“We wanted to clearly pick apart how and why this is still happening and reveal the level of corruption that enables this to happen – without addressing this corruption, most men will continue to get away with rape in India," Navai told the publication.

"A very fundamental tenet of this job is to hold power to account – and that’s exactly what we wanted to do. We must shout about these stories until women stop getting raped and murdered and abused," she added.

It features two journalists— The Quint's Aishwarya S Iyer and Newslaundry's Nidhi Suresh — who covered the rapes cases from ground zero. Besides them, the documentary also features former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan Lokur, former IPS officer Vibhuti Narayan Rai, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekar Azad.

India's Rape Scandal was released on April 20 by American public broadcaster PBS. There is no word on whether the documentary will be released in the country.