Thousands march against rape and murder of doctor in India

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Thousands march against ***** and ******* of doctor in India

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==AFP

The protesters held flaming torches and candles during the marches

Tens of thousands of women in West Bengal marched through the streets on Wednesday night in protest against the ***** and ******* of a ******** doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata last week.

The Reclaim the Night march was the culmination of nearly a week of frenzied protests ignited by the brutal ***** and ******* of a 31-year-old female ******** doctor at the RG Kar Medical College last Friday.

Responding to calls on social media, women from all walks of life – students, housewives, professionals – marched across Kolkata city and throughout West Bengal state on a rainy Wednesday night.

Smaller protests were also held in many other Indian cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

In Kolkata, the peaceful protests were marred by clashes between the police and a small group of unidentified men who barged into the RG Kar Hospital, the site of the doctor’s *******, and ransacked the emergency department.

Police fired tear gas to disperse the unruly crowd. Some police vehicles were also damaged.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Jeet Sengupta

‘We are seizing the night’, the protestors at the march said

Elsewhere in the city, women marched resolutely, holding placards of protest, their faces illuminated by the glow of mobile phones, candlelight, and flaming torches. Some carried national flags. They were joined by men, both young and elderly.

During the marches and at many gatherings near a university, theatre hall and bus terminus, they stood *******, holding hands as the humid air echoed with loud and powerful chants of “we want justice”. Protesters blew conch shells – the sound is considered auspicious.

At the ******* of midnight, as India completed 77 years of Independence, the soundscape of protest changed.

The air filled with a spontaneous chorus of the national anthem. Then it began raining, but the protesters walked in the rain, or holding umbrellas over their head.

“We have never seen anything like before in the city, such a huge gathering of women marching at night,” a reporter belonging to a news network said.

It was a night of barely concealed rage and frustration.

A woman, who joined the march well after midnight with her 13-year-old daughter said: “Let her see whether a mass protest can set things right. Let her become aware of her rights”.

“Women have no respect!” said another. “Our worth is less than cows and goats.”

“When do we get our independence? How long do we have to wait to work without *****? Another 50 years?” asked a student.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Reuters

Smaller midnight protests were held in a number of other Indian cities like Mumbai and Delhi

Sanchari Mukherjee said she marched with thousands of others from a bus terminus in Jadavpur, undeterred by the rain.

She met “people of all ages, from all classes, the well-to-do, the middle class and the poor”.

“I saw an elderly couple, the husband helping the woman to walk,” she said.

“One family brought their little girl along, perhaps so the memory of this event would be etched in her mind – how her parents stood up against injustice, and how she, too, can protest one day.”

Ms Mukherjee said the entire city seemed awake as the marchers passed by illuminated homes, with people peering out of windows and crowding verandahs to watch.

“They may not have participated but they were with us in spirit,” she said.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Jeet Sengupta

Young protesters shouted slogans against workplace harassment

“‘We want justice’ had become the anthem of the march, and it didn’t feel like just a slogan,” Ms Mukherjee said.

“It felt like every young woman was deeply hurt and determined, frustrated that they still face these issues in 2024.”

Ms Mukherjee added that she had to walk a few miles to join the march because the streets were gridlocked late at night.

“I was instantly swept up in a sea of people heading to the protest site. There was no excitement, just a stoic determination to create an event which would become a symbol for the times to come.”

The protests have been fuelled by anger over local authorities’ handling of the young ******** doctor’s ***** and *******.

She had fallen asleep in a seminar room after a 36-hour shift last Thursday, as there was no designated rest area for her to sleep in.

The next morning, her colleagues discovered her half-****** body on the podium, bearing extensive injuries.

Police later arrested a hospital volunteer worker in connection with what they said was a case of ***** and *******.

But there have been accusations of cover-up and negligence. The case has since been transferred from local police to the federal Central Bureau of Investigation.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Reuters

A woman holds a placard as she attends a candlelight vigil held outside Jadavpur University campus in Kolkata

Despite scant resources, Kolkata’s Reclaim the Night march appeared to have been meticulously organised. In an advisory, organisers welcomed women and people from marginalised ******* and gender identities to the march.

“Men are welcome as allies and observers,” the advisory added.

They also emphasised that politicians were not welcome and requested that no party flags be brought to the protest.

It was not the first time that a Reclaim the Night march has been staged in India.

Inspired by similar marches elsewhere in the world by women to assert their rights to walk in public areas without *****, a march was held in 1978 in Bombay (now Mumbai) in protest against the ***** of a woman on the street.

Blank Noise, a community-based art project and activist collective, has organised several midnight walks in Delhi to encourage women to assert their right to walk freely at night.

But in terms of scale, the Kolkata march, echoed by smaller ones across other cities, stands as the largest yet.

“We seized the night. We’ve never seen anything like this in the city. This is unprecedented. I hope it wakes up the authorities,” said Chaitali Sen, a protester.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Thousands #march #***** #******* #doctor #India

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up