Chitrangda Singh will not celebrate Republic Day this year. Deeply hurt by the brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old in the Capital last month, the actor says that this is no time for celebrations and we should be ashamed about what happened. This Republic Day, I am in no mood to celebrate. We should mourn, introspect and hang our heads in shame. Let us all take responsibility for what has happened and accept our mistake. Till we accept that what happened is wrong, we can never hope to change it, says the actor who was in the Capital on Friday to promote her film, Inkaar.

Chitrangda is also infuriated at the reactions of some political and religious leaders. If the leaders are trying to justify rape by saying that a woman should beg for mercy, or playing the name game of India and Bharat, they are more anti-national than anybody else and belong in jail, she says.