Broadcast of BBC documentary an 'insult of womanhood': Ravi Shankar Prasad

NEW DELHI: Terming the broadcast of the controversial interview of a Delhi gang-rape case convict as an "insult of womanhood", Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said that the "country is hurt by the documentary".

Prasad, the Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said a criminal who has been awarded death sentence by the court should not have been provided a space on international forum in the name of research.

"A criminal who has been awarded death sentence by the court is today being provided a space on international forum in the name of research to justify (that) the rape committed by him is right and to suggest that women should take care of themselves... which is an insult of womanhood," Prasad said.

The minister also said that the "country is hurt by this documentary".

"This (telecast of the convict's interview) is like cruel and ugly. In this case, there was a court order, but as BBC is an international known-organisation, how much is it right to telecast interview, I leave it (BBC) on its discretion... But the country is hurt due to BBC," Prasad said.

Upset over BBC broadcasting the controversial interview, the Centre has served a legal notice on the British media giant even as it asked video sharing website YouTube to remove the documentary as it is "very sensitive".

In the notice, the government told BBC that it has "violated" the agreement of not using the documentary for commercial purpose and for this the British media giant was liable for legal action.