Television crime show Crime Patrol Dastak postponed a scheduled episode on last month’s brutal gang-rape of a Delhi girl, following “advice” from the Central government.
Hosted by Anup Soni, the show, which reconstructs real crimes using actors, airs on Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India. It had been widely promoting this weekend’s episode on the December 16 rape of the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern by six men on a moving bus, an incident which shook the nation and led to widespread protests in the capital.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials confirmed that they had “informally advised” the channel not to telecast the episode, keeping in mind the ground realities.
“We noticed the promos, which seemed very insensitive in their presentation of what happened to the girl,” said a senior official. “They were juxtaposing images of the agitation with the tragedy of the girl…”
