Girls, do you know what a Zero FIR is? Now, the govt plans to use Pink to tell you

Women are often clueless about their legal rights like Zero FIR & weekend bail, as shown in Pink. Now, the govt will use the film to raise awareness

Consent' and `No' are current buzz words thanks to Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu-starrer Pink, but there is one more aspect shown in the film that people should know about ­ Zero FIR and other FIR-related laws. The film deals with young working women in Delhi who have never had a brush with the law, and therefore, know nothing about their legal rights.

In the film, Taapsee Pannu's character Meenal goes to a police station to file a complaint against a group of boys threatening her and her friends, after she injured one of them in self-defence. However, after giving her moral gyaan, the police officer tells her that he can't register a complaint because “ghatna toh Surajkund ki hai“. When she later goes to a senior officer, he tells her about Zero FIR ­ that irrespective of the jurisdiction in which the crime happened, an FIR can be filed anywhere and be later transferred to the concerned police station.

In another scene, after Meenal is arrested right before the weekend and her friends are trying to get her bail, a lawyer tells them to come on Monday , as she can't get bail on a weekend . That's when Amitabh Bachchan's character ­ Deepak Sehgal, a retired lawyer ­ comes to their rescue and tells them that women and minors can get bail on weekends and the bail proceedings can be heard at a judge's residence on Saturday and Sunday . To make sure that people, and young women in particular, know about these laws, the central government is planning to use the film to spread awareness about legal procedures. Delhi Police officials tell us that they have been trying to spread awareness about law through their Parivartan Cell and the film might help them in the endeavour.

PINK TO CREATE LEGAL AWARENESS

Talking about the decision to use the film to spread awareness about FIR laws, the film's producer, Shoojit Sircar, tells us, “Many senior officials from the central government, who have seen the movie, have approached us and expressed their desire to use the film to spread awareness about the Zero FIR. They told me that after the film is out of theatres, they will take it to schools and colleges to spread awareness. It is important for women to know that, according to the law, FIRs can be registered anywhere and the bail hearing for women and children can be held at the judge's residence.We need to know the laws and sadly , not many are aware.“

THE ISSUES PINK RAISES ARE REAL: DELHI POLICE

Senior officials of the Delhi Police say that they conduct workshops in schools and colleges to spread awareness about FIR laws and always focus on the Zero FIR.

Madhur Verma, DCP (North), says, “The reason Pink hits so hard is because it shows reality .Like in the movie, even in real life, not many women are aware about many important laws like the Zero FIR. We need to inform more girls about it and if a film can help give the message, then why not?“ Esha Pandey , Additional DCP (North), says, “It is true that most girls don't know about their rights when it comes to registering FIRs.“

`CHUP MAT RAHO'

The North DCP office's Parivartan Cell has beat officers visiting schools and colleges to spread awareness about these laws. Verma says, “The beat officers of Parivartan Cell go to schools and inform girls about different laws. We always tell women that if they will not come to us or report incidents, how will the police know and take action? We tell them ki chup mat raho.“

SPECIAL SCREENING FOR THE POLICE FORCE?

A special screening of the film was organised for the Mumbai Police. Are there any such plans for Delhi and Haryana Police? Shoojit says, “We didn't organise the screening for Mumbai Police.People are taking others for screenings on their own and we hope more people from the administration and police watch the film.“

(TOI)