Protests against rape and murder in Kolkata continue; junior doctors open Abhaya clinics

People take part in a rally to protest against the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on September 1, 2024. | Photo credit: Debasish Bhaduri

Three weeks after the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, protests have not subsided. Thousands of people took to the streets of Kolkata on Sunday (September 1, 2024) demanding justice for the victim. Several processions passed through the city from north to south, with people from all walks of life, graduates of prestigious educational institutions including Ramakrishna Mission, and prominent personalities from the Bengali film industry raising their voices against the gruesome crime.

Noted filmmaker Aparna Sen, along with actors Swastika Mukherjee, Sudipta Chakraborty, Chaiti Ghosal and Sohini Sarkar, marched through the streets of the city demanding justice for the trainee doctor whose body was found in the seminar hall on August 9.

While similar rallies have been taking place in Kolkata for the past three weeks, the rallies on Sunday (September 1, 2024) raised questions about the investigation of the crime and the alleged cover-up. “The common people have the right to demand answers and know the truth. We have faith in the judiciary and are confident about the investigation,” said Ms. Aparna Sen. Ms. Swastika Mukherjee questioned why there had been only one arrest after so many days.

The only person arrested so far in connection with this gruesome crime is Sanjay Roy, a civil police volunteer, who was arrested by the Kolkata police before the investigation into the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Human chain

The Ramakrishna Mission Alumni Procession marched from Golpark to Rabindra Sadan Exide Crossing on Sunday (September 1, 2024) carrying banners with the message “Tamaso Maa Jyotirgamaya (Lead me out of darkness into light).” Hundreds of graduates of St. John’s Diocesan Girls’ Higher Secondary School also marched from Minto Park to the school premises before forming a human chain near Exide Crossing, demanding justice for the victim.

Government and opposition political parties also held protest rallies on Sunday. The Bharatiya Janata Party held demonstrations at the Esplanade in the city, while the Trinamool Congress called on its supporters to protest in all blocks and demand justice for the victims.

The Trinamool Congress government has asked the Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly to convene a special session in the next few days to pass a law providing for the death penalty for those convicted of sexual assault.

As protests rage against the RG Kar incident, another incident of sexual harassment broke out in Howrah, where a lab technician was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl at a government hospital. The incident took place on Saturday evening at the Howrah District Headquarters Hospital, where the 12-year-old girl was admitted last week. Representatives of the Democratic Youth Student Federation of India (DYFI), the student wing of the CPI(M), held a demonstration outside the hospital.

Assistant doctors attend to patients and distribute free medicines at the Abhaya Clinic, a makeshift medical camp, on a road in Kolkata on September 1, 2024. | Photo credit: AFP

Telemedical services

The junior doctors of government hospitals, who have been on strike for three weeks, have started providing telemedicine to patients. On Sunday, the protesting junior doctors, including RG Kar’s, opened Abhaya clinics at three places in the city to treat patients. The ‘Abhaya clinics’ in memory of the late doctor have been set up at Kumartuli and Esplanade. The prescriptions issued to the patients bear slogans like ‘We want justice’. The protests have spread to the cultural sphere: singer Shreya Ghoshal has postponed her concert in the city and singer Arijit Singh has composed a song for a victim.

Amid the anger erupting on the streets, some Trinamool Congress politicians, including two MPs, have issued statements opposing the protests. Trinamool MP from Canning Paschim Paresh Ram Das has urged party supporters to prevent any fresh attempts to reclaim the night in his constituency. Uttarpara Trinamool MP Kanchan Mallick asked whether the protesting striking government employees will return their salaries to the state government. The Trinamool Congress also issued a statement announcing that it will not send its spokespeople to certain TV channels due to “persistent propaganda with anti-Bengali agenda”.