Thousands protest for justice in India over doctor’s rape and murder

Thousands took to the streets of Kolkata in India early Thursday to condemn the rape and murder of a local doctor. Protests have swelled as people demand justice for the victim, and an end to violence against women more broadly. The discovery of the 31-year-old woman’s brutalised body last week at a state-run hospital has sparked nationwide protests.

She cannot be named in accordance with India’s laws that protect the identity of rape victims. Large crowds marched through the streets of Kolkata in West Bengal to condemn the killing, with a candlelight rally at midnight coinciding with the start of India’s independence day celebrations on Thursday.

The protesters in Kolkata, who marched under the slogan “reclaim the night”, called for a wider tackling of violence against women and held up handwritten signs demanding action.

“We want justice,” read one sign at the rally. Marcher Monalisa Guha told Kolkata’s the Telegraph:

The atrocities against women do not stop.

Another marcher, Sangeeta Halder, told the paper:

We face harassment almost on a daily basis. But not stepping out because of fear is not the solution.

‘Anger in the nation’

Doctors are also demanding swift justice and better workplace security in the wake of the killing. Many doctors in government hospitals across several states on have chosen to halt elective services “indefinitely” in protest.

Protests have since occurred in several other hospitals across the country, including in the capital.

Dhruv Chauhan, from the Indian Medical Association’s Junior Doctors’ Network, told the Press Trust of India news agency:

Doctors nationwide are questioning what is so difficult about enacting a law for our security.

The strike will continue until all demands are formally met.

The Telegraph on Thursday praised the “spirited public protests” across India. In an editorial it said:

Hearteningly, doctors and medical organisations are not the only ones involved. The ranks of the protesters have been swelled by people from all walks of life.

Institutional mishandling suspected

Indian media have reported the murdered doctor was found in the teaching hospital’s seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a brief rest during a long shift.

An autopsy has confirmed sexual assault, and in a petition to the court, the victim’s parents have said that they suspected their daughter was gang-raped, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.

Shockingly, hospital administrators at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the murder took place, initially claimed the woman’s death was a suicide. As the Conversation reported, this was in spite of the postmortem report which found that:

the killed medical trainee had a broken collar and pelvic bones and severe genital injury.

In the early hours of Thursday, a mob of some 40 people angry at authorities’ handling of the case stormed the grounds of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, the site of the murder. The men smashed property and hurled stones at police, who fired tear gas in response.

Though police have detained a man who worked at the hospital helping people navigate busy queues, officers have been accused of mishandling the case.

Kolkata’s High Court on Tuesday transferred the case to the elite Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to “inspire public confidence”.

Reminiscent of Delhi bus rape

Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem with an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people.

For many, the gruesome nature of the attack has invoked comparisons with the horrific 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus.

The woman became a symbol of the socially conservative country’s failure to tackle sexual violence against women.

Her death sparked huge demonstrations in Delhi and elsewhere. Under pressure, the government introduced harsher penalties for rapists, and the death penalty for repeat offenders. Several new sexual offences were also introduced, including stalking and jail sentences for officials who failed to register rape complaints.

Long fight

Indian women have long campaigned – via work in human rights organisations, protests, and much more – to stamp out violence against women. But, the problems are embedded in institutional and social norms. For example, New Internationalist reported that:

Marital rape is still not a crime in India, despite the fact that it is disturbingly common. Among married women aged 18-49 who have experienced sexual violence, 83 per cent reported their current husband – and 13 per cent their ex-husband – as the perpetrator.

Violence against women is a global problem, and eradicating it requires widespread confrontation of sexist and patriarchal attitudes that uphold male violence as a fact of life.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Global News