Netflix has now become the one-stop destination for all movie and tv show fanatics. Being a Netflix fan myself,  I can understand how difficult it is to go to the workplace, tuition classes, college or anywhere leaving your favourite show in between with a heavy heart. Recently, I was just casually checking out some newly released stuff on Netflix when a show titled Delhi Crime caught my attention. Well, not exactly the show to be precise, but the synopsis which reads – “As Delhi reels in the aftermath of gang rape, DCP Vartika Chaturvedi leads a painstaking search for the culprits. Based on the 2012 Nirbhaya case.”

When I read the last sentence, my memory took me back to seven years ago when a heinous crime in the history of India occurred – arousing anger in people in the entire nation. The ‘Nirbhaya Case’. I still remember that my tears could not stop after watching the BBC documentary titled India’s Daughter.  It was the time when the news channels were charged with the headlines of the case, and half of Delhi’s population was on the streets carrying out protests and candle marches demanding justice for Jyoti Singh.

Delhi Crime is a series of seven episodes unfolding the story and detailing every minor incident of how the horrific gang rape took place in a moving bus, overnight in a crowded place, and how the dedicated team of officers worked together to arrest all six suspects. Richie Mehta who is the director of the show has done quite a brilliant job as a debutant. He has shown a different side of the story which depicts the hard work of the investigators and Delhi Police – which was never discovered by anyone.

This is one of the thought-provoking shows which portrays every minor detail of the Nirbhaya case. The story starts with the first episode where the couple is found on the roadside by a police patrol van and later taken to the hospital when Vartika Chaturvedi, played by Shefali Shah, is informed about the same over the phone.

Delhi Crime evokes a range of emotions in the viewer.

Delhi Crime delivers a strong message that the country still needs to understand where we are going wrong. Instead of forbidding women to go out late in the night, working in night shifts – we need to educate men to not make women feel uncomfortable and unsafe. This show covers all the possible aspects. Vartika Chaturvedi has also been shown as a caring mother who often argues with her daughter to not let her go study abroad. On the other hand, her daughter (played by Yashaswini Dayama) does not want to stay in India because she thinks the circumstances of the country in terms of women’s safety is not going to change anytime soon and she was somewhere correct because the condition gets even worse after the assault on Jyoti Singh.

Delhi Crime evokes a range of emotions in the viewer. The scene will melt your heart where the victim (character name Deepika played by Abhilasha Singh) is giving the statement of the crime to a magistrate. Here, one starts feeling melancholy because you can actually imagine how brutal it was. However, another scene where one of the perpetrators Jay Singh agrees to the crime he committed and he feels no regret can make the viewer furious and anguished.

What has changed after the Nirbhaya Case?

It has been seven years since this took place and we still pray for the safety of women in India. So has anything changed after this incident? Well, I don’t think so. Not in terms of sexual assault and harassment at least. Newspapers still have headlines about someone who has been raped, and these headlines are very frequent.

Instead of forbidding women to go out late in the night – we need to educate men to not make women feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

If you take a look at statistics, you will be shocked to know that the cases of sexual assault, harassment and abductions rapidly increased and keep increasing with each passing day. People have not changed. According to our society, women are still held responsible and looked at as the main culprit for such crimes. We live in a so-called civilized society where women are not allowed to go late at night as it is against the heritage of India but sexually assaulting them is apparently NOT against Indian culture. What is with these double standards?

The only thing that has changed after this case is that the new section of the Indian Penal Code – Section 376 A – has been added stating that if any person committing the crime of sexual assault which causes the death of the accused will be punished for a term more than twenty years. This can be contemplated as a small step ahead, but we still have a long way to go.

Delhi Crime is a show that will make you aware of the true events of the Nirbhaya Case from every point of view. This is one of the shows which should be watched by every man so that they can understand and feel the pain and reality of violence against women and girls, and perhaps learn to be truly sensitive and evolved.

Also Read: Women Should Not Be Afraid To Walk Home Late At Night

Featured image used for representational purpose only. Image source: Netflix