To commemorate the International Day of Non-Violence this year, the Population Foundation of India in partnership with Farhan Akhtar’s MARD and director Feroz Abbas Khan released a seven-minute film (above) remembering the Delhi gang rape through the lens of her parents. “We shall not forget,” is the call that the film makes.
The video begins with Jyoti’s mother recounting the events of the night of the December 16. “When they took me to see her, I put my hand on her forehead and her eyes were filled with tears. But she didn’t cry,” she says, holding back her own tears. She remembers how an angry nation had come together demanding justice.
But even after nearly five years, little has changed. “Our system did not learn a lesson,” she laments. At one point, the parents had no clue about the progress in the case, and were afraid that this one too might become part of the backlog of the judiciary, which has cases pending for more than 25 years.
She remarks that nobody is scared of the law because they’re all certain that they can get away with whatever crime they commit: “And the proof is the incidents occurring every day.”
The film also brings up the Nirbhaya Fund which was supposed to have been used for, among other things, establishing one-stop centres to help women who have faced any sort of violence. But the funds lie untouched, despite a rise in crimes committed against women.
Jyoti would have been 27 years old today, her mother says. She hopes that people don’t stop fighting for justice, because she certainly will not.
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