outrage over Delhi gangrape ! - the sad killing of Sanjay & Geet Chopra ~ Billa Ranga

The outrage that the Delhi gangrape has triggered across the country seems to be unprecedented. We haven’t seen such a display of truthful emotions in the Indian parliament for a long time, while people are spontaneously coming out on to streets demanding action.

Pessimistically, do you remember the  sensational murder of two kids in 1978 – Sanjay and Geeta Chopra – who were picked up by culprits in south Delhi. Even without satellite channels and the current profusion of media, the murder outraged and pained the country.  What happened subsequently ?

TV channels have been busy running shows debating on the punishment to be meted out.  In one, a former CFO advocated ‘chemical castration’ for rapists.  Heart of heart, many go to the extent of telling that the rapists should be stoned to death. Any solution is as good as the system that executes it ~ and there is also the human rights activists who would demand that those accused of crime after behaving like animals are treated properly.

We have many women in politics and some occupying high posts including the Chief Ministers of some States, in fact, Delhi too is ruled by a woman.  The least of the expectation that they are more empathetic.  Mamata set the bar way low when she dismissed the infamous Park Street rape case as a conspiracy concocted to malign her government and tried to cast aspersions on the character of the victim, out late in a bar by herself.

If you can recall, the kidnap and murder of two children ‘Geeta and Sanjay Chopra’ also known as ‘Billa Ranga kidnapping’ case in 1978 hogged limelight.  The two unfortunate children  were kidnapped by two young men, Ranga Khus (Kuljeet Singh) and Billa (Jasbir Singh), who planned to demand ransom from their parents. Their plans went awry when their car was involved in a traffic accident with a public bus. They subsequently raped Geeta, murdered the children and fled the city. They were arrested on a train a few months later, tried and hanged for the crime in 1982.

Sadly, tinseldom used their names for some adverse publicity the names could generate.  In 1980 a film named ‘Billa” a Rajnikanth starrer was produced by K. Balaji and directed by R. Krishnamurthy. It was a commercial success.  In 2007, it was remade with Ajith in the lead; with Nayantara, Prabhu, Namitha in the cast.  There was another film made with Rajni in the lead, titled ‘Ranga’.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

20^th Dec 2012.