A film-maker behind a new documentary about a fatal gang rape in India that caused global outrage has said one of the men sentenced to death for the killing showed no remorse during a “chilling” interview.

Mukesh Singh, one of five people convicted over the 2012 attack in New Delhi, told British film-maker Leslee Udwin from his prison cell that the murdered student was at least partly responsible for the incident, in comments that experts say reflect a wider instinct to blame victims of sex crime.

In the interview, Singh said the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, should not have been roam[ing] around at nine o’clock at night” and that “a girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy”.

“What I found when I interviewed him, the most chilling thing that I found, was that I got an insight and understanding into the way he views women and that is what is extremely shocking,” Udwin told reporters on Tuesday.

“No regret for one second out of 16 hours [of interviews], no regret. In fact, the opposite. Mukesh’s attitude is ‘Why are they making a fuss about us, everybody is doing it’,” she added in New Delhi before a special screening of the “India’s Daughter” documentary.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died from her injuries 13 days after she was savagely attacked on a moving bus while on her way home from the cinema with a male friend on December 16, 2012.

Before her death in a Singapore hospital she was able to speak to police about the crime, which caused outrage across the world and triggered mass protests in India.

Major legal reforms

The attack highlighted the frightening level of violence against women in the world’s second most populous country and led to a major reform of the rape laws, speeding up trials and increasing penalties.

Udwin said she had read out a list of all the injuries that the victim suffered when she spoke to Singh but he was unmoved.

“He is almost like a robot. I tried everything, every trick I knew to try and make him have a tear in his eye or something to see if there was any remorse,” she said.

The victim’s parents condemned Singh’s comments, which caused outrage on television debates.

Singh, 28, admitted driving the bus during the incident but denied taking part in the rape. He is appealing the verdict against him.

One of the alleged attackers died in jail before he could be tried, while another was too young to be tried as an adult and is serving a three-year sentence in a reform facility.

Source: AFP