Tens and thousands of women, along with men, seized the streets of Kolkata and locations across West Bengal late on Wednesday (August 14) night to reclaim the public spaces. Protests continued to roil the eastern Indian state following the recent rape and murder of a trainee doctor on the premises of the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and public outrage over an investigational cover-up.
Without holding any political flag, people sang and articulated themselves in various forms. Their anger against the administration and the resolve to fight back was palpable.
The slogan “We Want Justice” rent the air of Independence Day midnight as peaceful protesters marched through the streets of the city. All of Kolkata was shocked by the grisly rape and murder of the junior doctor during her night shift at RG Kar Hospital last week.
Kolkata Police had promptly labelled it suicide, but as the furious RG Kar doctors began an agitation, the death was revealed to be rape and murder. Since then, the plot has thickened, indicating a much bigger rot in the system.
The case was handed over to the federal investigating agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the order of the Calcutta High Court despite the city police making an arrest of a civic volunteer as the main accused, amid suspicion that there were more people behind the brutal crime.
The massive protest against the RG Kar rape-murder was simultaneously staged across the nation with New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and other cities joining the stir. Indians, especially Bengalis, living in different parts of the world also staged protests as reports poured in from cities like Toronto.
Researcher Rimjhim Sinha, who first initiated the protest through a social media post, said at one of the largest gatherings in south Kolkata’s Jadavpur, “This protest is a platform to express our hearts and to think independently. We will do constructive criticism of the problem. We want justice for the victim. However, we are also demanding a structural change in the country.”
“Today is also the night for women to celebrate their freedom,” she said while addressing the gathering at Jadavpur 8B Bus Stand depot, outside Jadavpur University, one of the top universities of India.
Several Bengali film industry celebrities, many of them critics of the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal and many known to be close to power, also joined the protest.
Public anger against the movie stars and intellectuals of West Bengal, who had been completely silent about the RG Kar rape-murder, had been rising, as evident in social media posts. The August 14 marches did see a few famous faces, but this was not a celebrity-led event at all.
Actors and filmmakers like Subhasree Ganguly (whose filmmaker husband is a ruling Trinamool Congress MLA), Arindam Sil, Sudipta Chakraborty, Bidipta Chakraborty, Chaiti Ghoshal, Roopa Ganguly, and Parno Mittra, joined the rally in Jadavpur, where the crowd was seen walking from 8B Bus Stand to Jadavpur Police Station, demanding a safer city for women and justice for the victim.
Similar protests were seen at the central Kolkata culture hub Academy of Fine Arts and the south Kolkata area Behala where a large number of people gathered demanding justice.
Speaking to IBNS, Sunita Kar, a social activist, said, “Women have gathered in different corners of the city today to ensure they can move around the city peacefully and fearlessly. We also want justice for the female doctor [of RG Kar].”
A ‘Take Back the Night’ march was first staged in the US city of Philadelphia in 1975 when microbiologist Susan Alexander Speeth was stabbed to death while returning from work at night.
Vandalism at RG Kar Hospital
While the city was witnessing unprecedented demonstrations led by women, a massive vandalism drama occurred at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the medical institute where the PG trainee doctor was found raped and murdered.
According to the local media, the Emergency department of RG Kar hospital was ransacked by the miscreants, who suddenly barged into the building and resorted to rampant violence amid a peaceful protest. Kolkata Police personnel present nearby did nothing to stop the vandalism. Later, a video released by RG Kar doctors revealed how they and their patients had been attacked by the vandals. Media people at the spot were also attacked.
The miscreants vandalised the stage where the doctors’ protest was taking place. They even overturned the police vehicles, turning the area into a battleground. Some police personnel also received injuries. The police had to finally use tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Vulture politics, claims embattled Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is facing the ire of the people, said on Wednesday that the state police would assist the Central Bureau of Investigation in every way to ensure the highest punishment for the perpetrators. But she was quick to slam the opposition parties for “indulging in vulture politics”.
Speaking at an event in Kolkata, the CM said that her government was prompt in intervening in the RG Kar incident and ensured that correct steps were being taken for a thorough investigation. However, her government has come under tremendous criticism from every section of society for allegedly trying to hush up the crime when the body was first discovered on the RG Kar premises.
“What didn’t I do? The moment I heard about the crime, I was in constant communication with the Police Commissioner as I was in Jhargram. On return, I visited the family members and assured them that the highest punishment would be awarded to the perpetrator. We arrested the culprit within 12 hours,” said Mamata Banerjee.
Kolkata Police would assist the CBI in every possible manner to ensure that all those involved were brought to justice, she said.
Banerjee affirmed her continued support for the family of the victim and called for capital punishment to be meted out to the culprit.
However, the beleaguered Trinamool Congress leader lashed out at the political Opposition in West Bengal for organising protests and criticising her government over the handling of the investigation.
It may be noted that the August 14 protests were completely devoid of any political colour. Indeed, the August 14 protest organisers had circulated a list of ‘Dos and Don’ts’ that asked marchers not to bring any political party flags to the gatherings.
Nonetheless, Banerjee tried to blame the Opposition for the peaceful mass protests and the spontaneous expression of people’s anger. Speaking on August 14 before the night marches, she said, “Instead of praying for the departed soul, offering support to the victim’s family in their hour of need, or taking a collective stand against social malice, the Opposition parties have been indulging in vulture politics. Those who politicise such tragedies have no moral compass.”
Referring to the recent regime change in Bangladesh and the exit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina through a massive and violent public unrest, the West Bengal chief minister said, “I have no lust for power. I want to work towards justice till my last breath. [Opposition parties like] CPI(M), BJP are trying to organise Bangladesh-like protests to capture power in West Bengal.”
The RG Kar horror story
The trainee doctor was raped and murdered at the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which is located in North Kolkata’s Belgachia area. She was found in a half-naked state with multiple injuries on her whole body from neck and eyes to private parts.
The crime occurred sometime in the very early hours of August 9, 2024. The parents were initially told by the hospital that their daughter had committed suicide.
According to initial media reports, the young woman had spoken to her parents at night, and later had gone to take a nap in the hospital’s seminar hall after a 36-hour shift, because there was no other place to rest. That is where she was allegedly raped and killed.
One person, a civic volunteer, has been arrested in connection with the case, but protesting students suspect that more people are involved in the rape and murder.
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 long leave, coming down heavily on the role of the state government in trying to protect him.
