Delhi bus rapist: 'girls are more responsible for rape than boys'

A man convicted of brutally gang-raping and murdering a young woman on a bus in Delhi has blamed his victim in a documentary about the attack.

The notorious 2012 murder prompted a wave of unprecedented anger and protests across India and forced the introduction of tougher new laws to punish sexual offences.

But Mukesh Singh, who is appealing against his death penalty, shows no remorse for his actions, says The Guardian.

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In an interview for BBC4 documentary India's Daughter he says: "You can't clap with one hand – it takes two hands. A decent girl won't roam around at night. A girl is more responsible for rape than a boy… about 20 per cent of girls are good."

It was 8.30pm when his victim, Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old medical student, was attacked on a moving bus. She and a male friend had been to the cinema to see The Life of Pi. She was raped by five men and one teenager and beaten with an iron bar, which was inserted into her body, causing fatal injuries to her internal organs. She was dumped by the side of the road and died two weeks later.

Singh tells the documentary makers that if she had not fought back, she would not have died. "She should just be silent and allow the rape," he says.

He also claims during the interviews that boys and girls are not equal. "Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes," he says.

Jyoti's father described the comments as "perverse and derogatory" and said he hoped "these devils are hanged soon and not housed safely in jail".

However, one of the lawyers defending the rapists expressed similarly extreme views about women, stating: "If my daughter or sister engaged in pre-marital activities and disgraced herself and allowed herself to lose face and character by doing such things, I would most certainly take this sort of sister or daughter to my farmhouse, and in front of my entire family, I would put petrol on her and set her alight."

Storyville – India's Daughter will be on BBC4 at 10pm on 8 March