Three weeks after the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, there has been no let-up in the protests with thousands of people hitting the streets of Kolkata on Sunday (September 1, 2024) demanding justice for the victim. Several processions were brought out from north to south of the city which saw people from all walks of life, alumni of reputed educational institutions, including Ramakrishna Mission, and prominent faces of the Bengali film industry raising their voice against the gruesome crime.
Well-known filmmaker Aparna Sen, along with actors Swastika Mukherjee, Sudipta Chakraborty, Chaiti Ghosal and Sohini Sarkar, marched on the streets of the city demanding justice for the postgraduate trainee doctor whose body was found at the seminar room on August 9.
While similar rallies were held in Kolkata over the past three weeks, those rallying on Sunday (September 1, 2024) raised questions about the investigation in the crime and alleged cover-up. “Common people have the right to demand answers and know the truth. We have faith in the judiciary, and we are hopeful about the investigation,” Ms. Aparna Sen said. Ms. Swastika Mukherjee raised question on why after so many days there had been only one arrest.
The only person arrested in connection with the horrific crime so far is Sanjay Roy, a civic police volunteer, who was apprehended by the Kolkata police before the investigation in the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Human chain
The procession by the alumni of Ramakrishna Mission on Sunday (September 1, 2024) marched from Golpark to Rabindra Sadan Exide Crossing carrying banners with the message ‘Tamaso Maa Jyotirgamaya (Lead me from darkness to light)’. Hundreds of alumni of St. John’s Diocesan Girls’ Higher Secondary School also walked from Minto Park to the school compound before forming a human chain near Exide Crossing demanding justice for the victim.
Political parties both in the government and the Opposition also held protests on Sunday. The Bharatiya Janata Party has been holding demonstrations at the Esplanade area in the city, whereas the Trinamool Congress has called supporters to hold protests in every bloc demanding justice to the victim.
The Trinamool Congress government has urged the Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly to convene a special session in the next few days to pass legislation for provisions of capital punishment of those convicted of sexual assault.
Meanwhile, as protests rage over the R.G. Kar incident, another incident of sexual assault came to the fore at Howrah, where a laboratory technician was arrested for allegedly molesting a minor girl at a State-run hospital. The incident took place on Saturday evening at the Howrah District Headquarters Hospital, where the 12-year-old girl was admitted last week. Leaders from the Democratic Youth Student Federation of India (DYFI), the student wing of the CPI(M), held a demonstration outside the hospital.
Junior doctors attend to patients and distribute free medicines at Abhaya Clinic, a temporary medical camp, along a street in Kolkata on September 1, 2024. | Photo Credit: AFP
Telemedicine services
The resident doctors of State-run hospitals who are on a strike for the past three weeks have started telemedicine services to help patients. On Sunday, the protesting resident doctors, including those from R.G. Kar started Abhaya Clinics at three places in the city to provide consultations to patients. The “Abhaya Clinics’ in memory of the deceased doctor has been set up at Kumartuli and Esplanade. The prescriptions given to patients have slogans like “we want justice’. The protests have spilled in the cultural sphere with singer Shreya Ghoshal postponing her concert in the city and singer Arijit Singh composing a song for a victim.
Amidst the anger spilling out on the streets, certain leaders of the Trinamool Congress, including two MLAs, have come out with statements against the protests. Trinamool MLA of Canning Paschim Paresh Ram Das has urged party supporters to prevent any fresh attempts to “Reclaim the Night” in his constituency. Uttarpara Trinamool MLA Kanchan Mallick asked whether the protesting government employees who are on strike will return their salaries to the State government. The Trinamool Congress also issued a statement announcing that it will not send its spokespersons to certain television channels due “to persistent anti-Bengal agenda-driven propaganda”.
