Women across the east Indian state of West Bengal will protest against the alleged rape and murder of a female PG trainee doctor in state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital before Wednesday midnight, just minutes before the country celebrates its 78th Independence Day.
Demanding their voices be heard and ensuring women can live a safe life in the state, the demonstration will take place in different junctions of Kolkata and across the state and will begin at 11:55 pm.
Titled ‘Night is Ours’, the protest is expected to see the presence of prominent faces from the state.
The posters of the protest movement as shared by actress Swastika Mukherjee showed the demonstrations would take place in Academy of Fine Arts, Jadavpur and College Street.
Sharing the posters, she wrote: “Come and join the protest march. Let’s make this demonstration stronger.”
Apart from celebrities, people, especially women, have been sharing posters of the march on social media platforms, urging more citizens to join the demonstration.
The rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata’s state-run hospital has left the world’s most populous country shocked and triggered a massive nationwide protest by doctors.
Latest development in the RG Kar incident
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered controversial Dr. Sandip Ghosh — who was appointed as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College, within hours of his resignation as the head of RG Kar Medical College — to go on a long leave, coming down heavily on the state government in the trainee doctor’s rape and murder case that has sent shockwaves across the country.
“The Principal is the guardian of all doctors working there… if he doesn’t show any empathy who will show? He should be at home not working anywhere,” Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said, as quoted by NDTV.
“… this Principal will not function… let him go on long leave. Otherwise we pass an order,” the court said.
Slamming the state government and administration, the court wondered how Dr. Ghosh stepped down and was “rewarded with another responsibility?”
“…why do you protect (him)? Let him tell the truth… something is missing here,” the court thundered as reported by NDTV.
The high court has asked for the case diary by 2 pm and directed the filing of Dr. Ghosh’s resignation letter. “We want to see what he has written,” said the court.
Dr. Ghosh, who faced the ire for alleged mismanagement and financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, resigned from his post on Monday.
However, the government posted him to CNMC within hours after he reportedly stepped down. Dr. Ghosh had claimed he resigned “willingly” and “not under pressure”.
Meanwhile, the students of Calcutta National Medical College on Tuesday blocked Ghosh from entering the campus, while protesting against the RG Kar incident.
What happened in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital?
The trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered at the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which is located in North Kolkata’s Belgachia area.
One person, a civic volunteer, has been arrested in connection with the case but protesting students suspect more people are involved in the case.
