Delhi Crime - Season 1

Delhi Crime Season 1 

is not just inspired by a true story. It is based almost entirely on the case that shook the whole of India and raised serious questions about women's safety. This was the first Indian web series to be screened at the Sundance Film Festival. So far only two Indian web series have been screened there, and both were directed by Richie Mehta. It is also the first and only Indian web series to win an International Emmy Award. This is the only Indian web series that I have watched twice. Before this, the only series I used to rewatch every year as a tradition was Marmadesam. I have stopped doing that now. Not because it became boring or because I watched it too many times. It is simply because there are so many new movies and web series waiting to be watched. I also have a huge collection of older titles waiting for me. On top of that I keep rewatching some of my favorites too. There is just not enough time. Anyway, let us get into my experience of watching this series.

To be honest, everyone has heard about the Nirbhaya case. That is the incident that became the foundation of Delhi Crime. On 16 December 2012, a horrific crime took place inside a bus. A twenty three year old physiotherapy intern known as Nirbhaya and her male friend had gone to watch a movie. While returning home they boarded a bus. It was not a public bus. It was a school bus. There were already six men inside including the driver. All of them were between twenty and twenty five years old. They were all men. The friend who came with Nirbhaya was the seventh person and the only other passenger. She was the only woman. Soon after they boarded, the six men threatened them and robbed everything they had. Then the driver handed over the steering wheel to another man, dragged Nirbhaya to the back of the bus and assaulted her. After that the others also took turns. I do not want to go into any more detail than that.

Now let us come to the story shown in the series. After nearly an hour of assault, the attackers threw both of them out of the moving bus without any clothes on them. They did not stop there. They threw them out because they wanted them to die. But somehow both of them rolled into a roadside ditch and survived. A passerby noticed them and called the police. The information reached officers who were on patrol, and they rescued both victims. They were taken to the hospital. The male friend had only minor injuries that could be treated with first aid. But Nirbhaya was in an unimaginably terrible condition. When the doctor explained her injuries to DCP Vartika Chaturvedi, the doctor said Do not spare any of them They deserve to be hanged. No doctor would normally say something like that, no matter how terrible a crime is. But this case was beyond words. Even while watching this series, whenever Vartika speaks to the doctor, I usually mute the audio or walk away for a while before continuing. Listening to those descriptions requires an incredible amount of courage and emotional strength. I honestly do not have either.

The first time I watched this series, what impressed me most was its intensity and dark tone. This time I had almost forgotten everything. I did not even remember the story. I only remembered that it was based on a true incident. After watching Seasons 3 and 2, I finally came back to Season 1. This time I realized that both my perspective and the way I approached the series had completely changed. The first time I watched it as a crime thriller. I enjoyed the detective work and investigation. That excitement was gone this time. Instead, this time it felt less like a thriller and more like reading one of the darkest chapters in real life.

At first, director Richie Mehta had no intention of making this series. He was looking for another story. But life kept bringing him closer to the officers who had actually worked on the case, especially Chhaya Sharma. That eventually convinced him to tell this story. DCP Vartika Chaturvedi is based on Chhaya Sharma. One thing I absolutely have to appreciate about this season is the way the makers handled the victim. Throughout all seven episodes, they never show the actual assault. They intentionally avoid it. They do not even clearly show the face of the character representing Nirbhaya. Not even in medium shots. Almost every scene before the hospital uses only wide shots. Close ups appear only during her treatment. Because of that, the woman we see in the beginning and the one lying in the hospital never become visually connected in our minds. Until the very end, we only see her as the victim. That was a very thoughtful creative decision by the makers.

Even though the police arrested all the accused within five days, the driver and main attacker Ram Singh died by suicide in Tihar Jail before the trial was completed. Personally, even if he had been hanged, I would still have felt it was too little for what he had done. But what hurt me even more was what happened to Nirbhaya. She was flown to Singapore for treatment, but she passed away there on 29 December 2012, fourteen days after the attack. Out of the six attackers, five are now dead. Ram Singh died by suicide. Four others were executed on 20 March 2020. But I also have to mention the sixth person. He was seventeen years old at the time of the crime. He was just as brutal as the others. Yet he received only three years in a juvenile home. After completing that sentence, he was released and has been living freely. The most painful part is that his identity has still not been made public. What kind of system is this?