You sense Patrick Graham’s empathy long before you see the instincts of a sensational true-crime filmmaker when mid-day sits down with him to discuss Hathras – 16 Days. “The reason it gained notoriety was because of the press coverage at the time and the forced cremation,” Graham says almost clinically, before adding the line that hangs over the documentary: ‘To this day it is still representative of frequently occurring crimes.’
The idea that the Hathras case was never an isolated tragedy, but a recurring reality, became the foundation of the Zee5 docu-series. Instead of revisiting the case as a solved headline, Graham focuses on the 16 volatile days between the assault, the victim’s death, the late-night cremation, and the media-political storm that followed.
A still from ‘Hathras — 16 Days’. Pics/X, Instagram, Youtube, AFP
What intrigued Graham was not only the crime, but also the ecosystem around it — from the press frenzy and political reactions to the battle over narrative. “I don’t disparage the role of the press in this story,” he says. “I think they largely did a good job and it is an example of how the press should continue to act with cases like these into the future.”
Still, Graham is aware that handling caste violence on screen inevitably risks exploitation, simplification, or political reduction. “We were all open minded going in and tried to be as balanced as possible. We tried to get voices from different perspectives and tried not to be judgemental. This is a bi-partisan issue; it doesn’t matter what your political beliefs are. I think that it’s clear and correct to say, ‘there’s a problem here, let’s try and solve it’.”
Tanushree Pandey
While revisiting police records, testimonies, and call logs, Graham admits parts of the research challenged his own assumptions. “Ultimately, it’s irrelevant in the face of this crime and the friend of Sandeep’s that we had picked to interview, but ran away before we could speak to him. I have to credit journalist Tanushree Pandey, who did a wonderful job in securing us access so we could get the whole story as much as possible. She was instrumental in making this.”
