DELHI CRIME
If you are an Indian, you probably know what the Nirbhaya Case is. If not, let me tell you a little bit about it. In December 2012, there took place an incident which shook the living conscience out of the citizens of India. An incident that took place in the capital city of India, after which the city was not only the Indian Capital but also a rape capital. A girl in her early 20s was gang-raped and assaulted. Ghastly, inhuman, words like these do not give justice to how heinous that crime was.
Delhi crime is a Netflix series that premiered in March 2019. Six years after the incident because the situation is still the same. I saw all the seven episodes in April 2019, and I knew I was going to take a while to get over the series. The fact that such a thing has happened shook me. It didn’t make an impact on me back in 2012 because I was just a 12-year-old girl, not knowing the actual details of what had happened. After I saw the whole series, weeks passed by and when I was alone my mind still went back to some scenes that shook me. Hence, writing about it was a good way to get it all out, is what I thought and here I am.
When the last man is caught, we see the DCP running and hugging a fellow teammate. This scene shows how she was emotionally attached to the case, and to the victim.
Delhi crime is a Netflix series that premiered in March 2019. Six years after the incident because the situation is still the same. I saw all the seven episodes in April 2019, and I knew I was going to take a while to get over the series. The fact that such a thing has happened shook me. It didn’t make an impact on me back in 2012 because I was just a 12-year-old girl, not knowing the actual details of what had happened. After I saw the whole series, weeks passed by and when I was alone my mind still went back to some scenes that shook me. Hence, writing about it was a good way to get it all out, is what I thought and here I am.
Episode one, the first fifteen minutes itself will give you an uneasy feeling, like something crawling underneath your skin. This episode shows how some people in the force least care, and how some care. There is a point where the female victim is telling “maas nikala”, or, “they pulled out flesh”. This is where you’ll get goosebumps. Here, the role of DCP Chhaya Sharma is played by Shefali Shah who did an amazing job in the series. In this episode, the details of how and when the couple got on to the bus, how the police were informed about it and what was the immediate action the cops took are shown in detail. There is a scene, where the patrolling police lift the female victim, when she is in pain, telling something very bad happened with her, but requests the police not to tell her father. Why? Is it because she thinks it will hurt her father to know what has happened to her? Or is it because she thinks now that she has been gang-raped, she is a disgrace to the Indian society, and didn’t want her father to know about it? We never know. But what came into my mind was, the girl experienced hell in that night, but in the end, all she cared about was if her father knew about it or no. The first glimpse of the girl is given here, her face black and red. Bite marks all over.
The DCP gets a call late in the night, the person not giving her the exact details of what had happened, she still has a gut feeling that something is wrong and goes to the hospital. She somehow gets to the doctor, the doctor does not pay attention to the DCP not knowing who she is, the moment the fact that the DCP is there is established, they have a small talk there. The DCP asks what happened, to which the doctor says, “her intestines were hanging outside when they brought her here”, “its a gang-rape” the DCP says, to which the doctor replies, “yes, and they also inserted a rod, multiple times”. At this moment, I slammed shut my laptop. Do I have to explain how I felt? Can I explain? I guess not.
From episode two, the chase of the suspects starts. There were six in this case. How the DCP starts gathering the minutest details, how the team first finds the bus, and then the six suspected men. A forensic team is sent to the place where the couple was found naked, here, the female official present there says “I’ve worked for the Delhi Police for 22 years, never have I seen a forensic team at a crime scene. Feels good to see one today”. After this dialogue, we also come to know the situation of the past investigations the teams might have conducted.
In one of the episode, after the bus has been found and taken to a secured place, the forensic team starts to search the bus but finds nothing. At this moment the official present there takes things upon himself (also because of the immense pressure from the DCP) to find the evidence. This is where he screws open a place at the end of the bus. When he opens it, he finds the rod the men used and flesh that they took out from the female victims body. The rod, covered in blood had a hook like thing at the end of it. This is the rod they inserted into the vagina. This is the second time I paused the episode to digest what I had just seen.
The first suspect is caught and was also the easiest one to catch. From this, we know that this man was not scared at all, or was not guilty of what he had done. When the DCP starts interrogating the first man, he first Denies it, also says he’s handicapped how could he do such a thing, but later he confesses. A totally guiltless confession. Where he proudly says what he did to the girl. “Chod diya” or fucked her he says proudly, from the front, and then from behind. When the girl resisted while all of this was happening, she bit the first man, which made him angry. And this is the reason he took and rod and did what he did. Not thinking twice. He then continues saying that he put his hand inside of her and pulled out flesh, from the front, and then from behind. He also says that he has done this before, and doesn’t regret what he did. The second time I slammed shut my laptop.
At this moment there is a female trainee present, the DCP tells her to do anything with him, she had 24 hours. To which she says “with all due respect madam, I don’t want to touch him” and to be honest, I would have done the same. Will never in my life want to touch a man like him, even if it was to beat him till an inch away from death.
The next two suspects are also not so difficult to trace and getting them to confess is also easy as compared to others. While all of this is happening, there comes a scene where there are two officials in a car, going to a place where they think one of the suspect is. They break into a conversation here, where one asks the other why all of this happens. The other replies, “it's quite simple, as the gap between the rich and the poor increases, the crimes also increase. The poor do not have sex education, but there is cheap porn available on the internet, this corrupts young minds, making them see women as a commodity”. This is a simple line, answering a lot of questions the viewer has at that moment.
When the first three suspected were caught, all three said one similar thing during the interrogation. That the boy was touching the girl inappropriately. On the thighs and on the waist. I like to think this did not happen in reality, but if it did, I blame the boy for whatever happened to the girl. Even a kid knows that you do not touch your friend/girlfriend/wife at night, on a bus, with six creepy unknown men staring right at you. There is also one more thing that they pointed out. That he was discharged the next day, with a few scratches here and there, that he acted out that he was unconscious. I have no idea what happened in reality, but I like to think that this was not the case. That he fought till he could.
The last three suspects took time to catch, it was a long chase. With teams going to remote locations to get them. Here we see the dedication of the Delhi Police, something that people easily miss out on. There is a lot of pressure on the police, with people trying to take political benefits of the situation. This is why a chief justice is called to take the statement of the female victim whenever she is ready, so the police will not be questioned regarding this. The police are given a go-ahead by the doctors to record her statement and the chief justice is called. Normally, a girl who has gone through such a traumatic event is not in the proper stated of mind to narrate what happened to her, but in this case, the female was extremely strong and very brave. She narrated the whole incident, which was four-page long,she mentioned all the six men along with their names, the statement was extremely detailed, and she also signed it. Imagine telling someone how you were assaulted with an iron rod!
From episode two, the chase of the suspects starts. There were six in this case. How the DCP starts gathering the minutest details, how the team first finds the bus, and then the six suspected men. A forensic team is sent to the place where the couple was found naked, here, the female official present there says “I’ve worked for the Delhi Police for 22 years, never have I seen a forensic team at a crime scene. Feels good to see one today”. After this dialogue, we also come to know the situation of the past investigations the teams might have conducted.
In one of the episode, after the bus has been found and taken to a secured place, the forensic team starts to search the bus but finds nothing. At this moment the official present there takes things upon himself (also because of the immense pressure from the DCP) to find the evidence. This is where he screws open a place at the end of the bus. When he opens it, he finds the rod the men used and flesh that they took out from the female victims body. The rod, covered in blood had a hook like thing at the end of it. This is the rod they inserted into the vagina. This is the second time I paused the episode to digest what I had just seen.
The first suspect is caught and was also the easiest one to catch. From this, we know that this man was not scared at all, or was not guilty of what he had done. When the DCP starts interrogating the first man, he first Denies it, also says he’s handicapped how could he do such a thing, but later he confesses. A totally guiltless confession. Where he proudly says what he did to the girl. “Chod diya” or fucked her he says proudly, from the front, and then from behind. When the girl resisted while all of this was happening, she bit the first man, which made him angry. And this is the reason he took and rod and did what he did. Not thinking twice. He then continues saying that he put his hand inside of her and pulled out flesh, from the front, and then from behind. He also says that he has done this before, and doesn’t regret what he did. The second time I slammed shut my laptop.
At this moment there is a female trainee present, the DCP tells her to do anything with him, she had 24 hours. To which she says “with all due respect madam, I don’t want to touch him” and to be honest, I would have done the same. Will never in my life want to touch a man like him, even if it was to beat him till an inch away from death.
The next two suspects are also not so difficult to trace and getting them to confess is also easy as compared to others. While all of this is happening, there comes a scene where there are two officials in a car, going to a place where they think one of the suspect is. They break into a conversation here, where one asks the other why all of this happens. The other replies, “it's quite simple, as the gap between the rich and the poor increases, the crimes also increase. The poor do not have sex education, but there is cheap porn available on the internet, this corrupts young minds, making them see women as a commodity”. This is a simple line, answering a lot of questions the viewer has at that moment.
When the first three suspected were caught, all three said one similar thing during the interrogation. That the boy was touching the girl inappropriately. On the thighs and on the waist. I like to think this did not happen in reality, but if it did, I blame the boy for whatever happened to the girl. Even a kid knows that you do not touch your friend/girlfriend/wife at night, on a bus, with six creepy unknown men staring right at you. There is also one more thing that they pointed out. That he was discharged the next day, with a few scratches here and there, that he acted out that he was unconscious. I have no idea what happened in reality, but I like to think that this was not the case. That he fought till he could.
The last three suspects took time to catch, it was a long chase. With teams going to remote locations to get them. Here we see the dedication of the Delhi Police, something that people easily miss out on. There is a lot of pressure on the police, with people trying to take political benefits of the situation. This is why a chief justice is called to take the statement of the female victim whenever she is ready, so the police will not be questioned regarding this. The police are given a go-ahead by the doctors to record her statement and the chief justice is called. Normally, a girl who has gone through such a traumatic event is not in the proper stated of mind to narrate what happened to her, but in this case, the female was extremely strong and very brave. She narrated the whole incident, which was four-page long,she mentioned all the six men along with their names, the statement was extremely detailed, and she also signed it. Imagine telling someone how you were assaulted with an iron rod!
When the last man is caught, we see the DCP running and hugging a fellow teammate. This scene shows how she was emotionally attached to the case, and to the victim.
Throughout the season, we see a couple of times when we think that the DCP has reached her breaking point, but she handles it well. From appreciating her teammates when they did something good, to going and giving a mouthful to the men who do not do their job. We see the DCP lightning up at times with a fellow teammate, making coffee and at the same time doing her duty. We see that the police was under immense pressure, from the media, from the public, from the higher authorities, but the team was strong enough to not break down. All the six men were caught in a record time of five days which is a commendable job.
When all the six men are caught, the DCP takes the team for a little ice cream party on the cold December night. There, she meets the trainee, the same trainee who denied to hit the first man who was caught. She was not happy, a trainee tells the DCP, that she doesn’t feel like celebrating, and says fuck the investigation, statements, court cases. That she wanted the victim to be okay. The DCP recommends her to try and not establish any meaning to it. And the viewers are left hanging here. Do we try to establish meaning here and get answers to our questions? Or do we just let it go?
After this case, new anti-rape laws were enacted. All the suspects were sentenced to death. The female died two weeks later from her injuries. Her legacy lives on.
When all the six men are caught, the DCP takes the team for a little ice cream party on the cold December night. There, she meets the trainee, the same trainee who denied to hit the first man who was caught. She was not happy, a trainee tells the DCP, that she doesn’t feel like celebrating, and says fuck the investigation, statements, court cases. That she wanted the victim to be okay. The DCP recommends her to try and not establish any meaning to it. And the viewers are left hanging here. Do we try to establish meaning here and get answers to our questions? Or do we just let it go?
After this case, new anti-rape laws were enacted. All the suspects were sentenced to death. The female died two weeks later from her injuries. Her legacy lives on.
It gives me goosebumps reading this. However I don't have the courage to watch this show and get over it, neither will I be able to write about it and get it out of my head. Irrespective, you have done a fantastic job with this piece . Force to you and all the women of our country and the world. It's a shame that men in our country are this particular type of pigs that deserve slow and painful death over a burning pyre.
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