Her birth gave her parents the same happiness that the birth of a male child would give any other orthodox Indian family. She was ambitious enough to dream to be a doctor, despite the poverty she lived in, She worked a night shift at a call center and slept only three to four hours a day to support her father to pay for her medical school education. She wanted to set up a medical hospital in her ancestral village where there were minimal medical facilities available She had feminist thoughts, and believed that a girl could do anything. Jyoti Singh, left the world with a question not too many people have an answer to; What is the meaning of a ‘woman‘ in today’s society? Despite the educational progress, the heinous ideas of male chauvinism in the minds of a few sexist individuals became the reason behind an innocent woman falling prey to an act of abduction.
The antiquated presumption of females being the feebler sex is an evil that continues to poison the Indian society A scar this deep was needed to awaken the nation and address the need for a change India‘s Daughter, a crime documentary by Leslee wain portrays the heart»wrenching reality of male chauvinism and rape culture prevalent in the capital of India, 23—year-old Jyoti Singh was gang raped, tormented and beaten by a group of five men and one juvenile before being left to die on the streets of Delhi on 16‘h December, 2012.‘ This event stirred national uproar as citizens took to the streets. There was public outcry against the injustice alongside extensive media coverage of the incident, Besides demonstrating the filth in the minds of the rapists, the documentary also exposes the hypocrisy and a lack of a sense of equality in the rotten minds of select individuals within the Indian judicial system.
It uncovers the truth that is thinly veiled behind the progress that the nation is making today- India has one of the most horrific rape cultures in the world, a lot of which can be attributed to a narrow-minded society and an orthodox sexist point of view. This harsh reality has been put across in a way that leaves a hurricane of emotions in the hearts of viewers. wain’s documentary uses sources that are directly related to this appalling episode, leaving little room to question the aspect of credibility in the British filmmaker’s documentary. Several scenes are video clippings of the lawyers involved in the case, both prosecution and defense. M. L. Sharma and A. P. Singh, the rapists’ lawyers’ make statements that are evident of how anti-feminist the mindsets of a large portion of the population are.
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One of the clippings shows Dr. Sandeep Govil, jail psychiatrist of the rapists, explaining how the rapists thought of their actions and the justification they provided for committing that crime wain also has Dr, Maria Misra, writer and historian at Oxford University, put across her viewpoint about this tragic incident. wain plays a strong suit by introducing this external opinion. Misra‘s strong views about the incident highlight the severity of the situation for those in the country. The documentary goes on to depict how the public successfully pressurized the government to setting up the Verma Committee to look into the matter urgently.
There is a scene wherein viewers see a heap of books; “80,000 responses were sifted through by this group of ex»seniorjudges”. (wain) This is another proof of reliability because it makes viewers believe that the issue was taken up very seriously by the officials appointed. The most important sources that wain uses are friends and family of the victim and one of the rapists himself; nobody besides those directly involved with the incident could be a better source of credibility for the documentary wain‘s documentary is one which leaves the world flabbergasted at the disheartening fate of the rape victim. Viewers are left with a cyclone of emotions; thus justifying how pathos would be her strongest rhetorical device. The documentary opens with Singh’s parents talking about her childhood, her ambitions and the sacrifices they made as a family to meet those dreams.
While her mother talks, viewers can sense a mournful tone in her voice. This makes them feel empathetic towards her parents as they realize how all these efforts would now yield no fruit only because of a mistake they didn’t make. There is a scene where Singh’s mother says, “‘Whenever there’s a crime, the girl is blamed. She should not go out’” (wain). This invokes a feeling of frustration amongst readers with feminist views, another very strong use of emotional appeal. Usha Saxena, one of the protesters restates something that her husband told her when she was actively participating in the demonstration: “‘My husband tells me I‘m stupid because I go and protest without bothering about the consequence’s (wain).
This would appeal to the majority of the female viewers as it shows how the masculine gender considers women to be the weaker sex. It reinforces their mindset of how women may be easily harmed and need to engage in societal reaction» based decision making One of the most powerful scenes in terms of emotional appeal is one where wain depicts Mukesh, one of the rapists involved in the case, confronted by one of Singh’s doctors Mukesh had a list of the injuries that Singh had read out to him. Mukesh‘s reaction to this can be seen in his eyes: feelings of fear, guilt, pain and worry are evident. This creates emotional turmoil in the minds of the audience as well because while they feel Singh’s pain and worry, the feelings of hatred towards the convicts take prominence.
Towards the end of the documentary, there is a cremation scene on the banks of a river with a fire fading out slowly in the distance, This leaves spectators with a feeling of immense heartache; for the suffering that Singh had to endure, the pain that her parents are living in, and the sorrowful plight of the country today. The subject of wain’s work is one that has a dumbfounding effect on it’s viewers, Male chauvinism is one of India’s ancient evils which, despite the educational progress today, is still an obstacle in the path of the country’s growth. “‘A female is just like a flower. That flower always needs protection, If you put that flower in a gutter, it is spoilt‘” (wain).
This dialogue, by M. L. Sharma explains the mentality of the sexist individuals, thereby supporting Wain’s claim about women being thought of as inferior. M, L. Sharma was the defense lawyer for the rapists, which tells us how he must be highly educated to hold such an authoritative position within the Indian judicial system. It is a matter of great disgust that despite his qualifications he has such condescending views towards the female gender. Further on in the documentary, psychiatrist Sandeep Govil explains the mindset of the rapists. He talks about how they have grown up in a neighborhood where women were often tortured and beaten or sexually abused by their male partners Hence, they consider this to be their man right” (wain)
This leaves viewers with great antipathy as to how someone could have such inferior ideals in our society today. The documentary ends with a black and white image of a burning candle with a splatter of blood in red This is an incredibly powerful use of imagery The message wain is trying to convey through this is that because of a society that follows a black and white distinction between the capabilities of men and women, an innocent individual lost her life, igniting a flame of exasperation within humanity nationwide, For portions of the documentary that do not involve a speaker, there is slow-paced music playing in the background.
Though this is a very small aspect, it resonates with the feeling of pain that a viewer would experience throughout every scene depicted. The documentary is a call of awakening to all humankind It appeals to the feminists and educated younger generation to work towards making a change. It also addresses those with male chauvinistic views, reminding them that it is now time for a change of mindset Women today would consider the documentary as a source of inspiration and work towards fighting for the recognition they deserve in society.
The audience as a whole feels a sense of responsibility towards instilling the concept of equality. The fervor that the documentary has given rise to brings out the exigency of this situation. The immediate reaction that the episode caused was something that the nation had never seen before. The documentary makes people more aware of the problems existing within society as well as the need to fix them. It makes us realize how the male bias is a ludicrous concept and gender impartiality is the need of the hour. India‘s Daughter was more than just a crime documentary depicting the ruthlessness that some individuals are capable of.
It did more than just fill the audience with a feeling of sorrow for Singh and fury for the convicts It left Indians questioning the ideals of the society that they live in. They realized that all of the nation’s progress is futile when the foundation itself is weak. Jyoti Singh‘s rape case is something that has changed the way the world looks at Indian society and has also the way India looks at itself. December 12‘“, 2012 will always be remembered as a day that changed India. And as for Jyoti Singh, even though she departed from the world, she has left a mark on the world forever, Her battle is the nation’s battle, her sorrow was the nation’s sorrow, and justice to her will be justice to the nation.
