KIN (Agency) 02 March 2014 Aamir Khan’s talk show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ returned for another season this Sunday and its second innings started with a bang. The first episode focussed on the epidemic of violence against women that has gripped the nation since the horrific Delhi gangrape incident of December 16, 2012.
Aamir highlighted the indifference shown towards victims and their families by police officers who are meant to enforce justice but instead shame and ridicule them. Aamir even interviewed the parents of a girl who committed suicide after being humiliated by officers. Some important information was also shared with viewers about the rights they can exercise against an officer who refuses to file an FIR (such as registering a case against the officer under Section 166A of the Indian Penal Code).
The show examined the hurdles a rape victim goes through during every step she takes following assault. The next segment examined the kind of horrors a rape victim faces at hospitals where she is discouraged by doctors to take up the case and subjected to the humiliating and illegal two finger test. Aamir also interviewed a doctor and activist working to standardize the process doctors must follow when examining a rape victim. Another important piece of information shared was the fact that no hospital, public or private, can refuse a rape victim and they are compelled to examine her in a professional and thorough fashion.
The third segment of the show exposed the kind of treatment meted out by courts and lawyers to victims. Horrific instances were highlighted, one being where a victim’s undergarments were openly displayed in the middle of the courtroom. Aamir interviewed a woman who’d been fighting to have her case heard for over 21 years, despite having shown dilligence in collecting every bit of evidence possible. The segment also featured a short interview with retired judge Usha Mehra, whose report had proposed the establishment of a one stop rape crisis centre that would facilitate speedy trials.