A new Bollywood film comes out this week based on the real-life murder of a fashion model by the son of a leading lawmaker, in a case that cast a spotlight on the corrupt nexus of police and politics.
No One Killed Jessica tracks the fight for justice for Jessica Lal, who was working as a barmaid at a fashionable New Delhi restaurant in 1999 when she was shot for refusing to serve a customer a drink.
The prime suspect, Manu Sharma, whose father, Venod, was a former government minister, was acquitted at trial seven years later after several witnesses retracted their initial statements.
The verdict prompted a public outcry and a media campaign that led to a prosecution appeal at which Sharma was convicted and given a life sentence for murder.
The case was seen as a turning point in India, whose wealthy elite had long been able to have their way with few fears of reprisals.
Director Raj Kumar Gupta said the film was a reminder of how the Indian public could be a force to be reckoned with when faced with the corrupt practices and vested interests of the rich and powerful.
The movie, to be released on Friday, stars Rani Mukherjee as a campaigning journalist who teams up with the model’s sister, Sabrina, played by Vidya Balan, to overturn the lower court verdict.
“The higher strata of Indian society realized that they cannot get away with anything after the Jessica case,” Gupta said. “They realized that the common man had found a voice and that voice will be heard if they do injustice to them.”
“This story is very inspirational because civil society very rarely comes together on such issues and tries to get justice for the dead,” he said. “In this case justice was done for Jessica. Civil society came together as one and said, ‘Enough is enough.’”
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
RSS