The government has asked YouTube to remove all links to a controversial documentary about the gang rape and murder of a woman in Delhi after banning its broadcast, a government official said on Thursday.
Leslee Udwin's "India's Daughter" features an interview with Mukesh Singh, one of four men sentenced to death for the rape and torture of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in December 2012.
Comments released to the media show that Singh blames the victim for the crime. He says that women are more responsible than men for rape.
"We just forwarded the court order and asked them (YouTube) to comply," an official at the ministry of communications and information technology said.
It was still possible to view the documentary on websites such as YouTube after British broadcaster BBC aired it outside India on Wednesday.
Singh's comments have caused an uproar on social media and reignited a debate about gender inequality in Asia's third-largest economy.
"We believe that access to information is the foundation of a free society," said a spokesperson for Google, which owns the video sharing site YouTube. "...we continue to remove content that is illegal or violates our community guidelines, once notified."
The documentary was still available on YouTube and has gone viral with multiple shares.
This comes against the backdrop of government examining options on whether to take legal action against BBC after it went ahead and aired the documentary in the UK.
BBC aired the documentary, containing the controversial interview of a convict in the December 16 gangrape, despite the home ministry asking the news organisation not to do so.
A Delhi court in its order restrained airing or broadcasting the interview of the convict Mukesh Singh, which was conducted inside the Tihar jail here, till further orders.
BBC conveyed to the government that it has no plans to telecast the film in India in compliance with the directive.
Meanwhile, surprised at the airing of the documentary, the rape victim's family said on Thursday that it "hurt the pride of India". "I am surprised that BBC aired its documentary and it was later uploaded on YouTube in spite of the court's restraining order. BBC hurt the pride of India," the rape victim's father said.
Asked about his reaction to the airing of the documentary "India's Daughter", he said it clearly shows that they (BBC) "don't have fear of Indian law and our country".
The documentary stirred a controversy after some comments by Mukesh Singh hit the headlines as he openly blamed the victim for the rape.
The father further said the BBC filmmaker had met him before making the documentary but they did not tell him that they will take the convict's interview.
Recalling his interaction with the filmmaker, he said: "After making the documentary, they had come to meet me. They wanted to take my signature on a paper before releasing their documentary, but I refused to do so."
His wife also agreed with him.
"The documentary should not have been released after the court's restraining order," she added.
Brushing aside Indian protests, the BBC telecast the documentary on Thursday. The hour-long documentary was then uploaded on YouTube by an individual, effectively making it available to a global audience.
The documentary, by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin, drew criticism from Indian MPs as to how the convict was interviewed in jail.
The decision by BBC to broadcast the controversial interview has evoked mixed reactions among political parties.
While the BJP has been critical of the UK national broadcaster's decision to go ahead with the telecast of the interview shot inside Tihar jail here, the Congress said it supported BBC's move and was shocked by the ban imposed on it by the government in the country.
"I think BBC, by choosing to advance telecast this film, has lost its moral (standing) and credibility in the country. The government has already decided to initiate legal action against people who have violated the rules and norms.
"Appropriate legal action will follow. The government will take all necessary measures to ensure that this film doesn't get telecast further," said BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao.
Further, criticising the broadcast of the banned interview, which was shot by filmmaker Leslee Udwin and BBC, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi said, "Somewhere this is an attempt to dent the image of India."
However, senior Congress leader Priya Dutt supported the broadcast of the interview, saying the documentary did not defend, but exposed the mindset of the rapist.
"I am very shocked at the decision to ban the video. Rapes happen every single day and this has to be exposed. The documentary didn't defend the rape, it in fact showed the mindset of the rapist. The rapist has not been given a platform.
"I feel terrible for the parents (of the gangrape victim) who are going through trial once again. Justice delayed is justice denied. This is the story which needs to be told," Dutt said.
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