Tens of thousands of women in West Bengal took to the streets on Wednesday night to protest the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata last week.
The Reclaim the Night march marked the peak of nearly a week of intense protests following the brutal killing of the 31-year-old at RG Kar Medical College last Friday.
After a grueling 36-hour shift, the doctor had fallen asleep in a seminar room due to the lack of a designated rest area.
The next morning, her colleagues found her half-naked body on the podium, bearing extensive injuries. A hospital volunteer worker has been arrested in connection with the crime.
In response to calls on social media, women from all walks of life marched across Kolkata and throughout the state on a rainy Wednesday night.
Although the protests were largely peaceful, they were disrupted by clashes between the police and a small group of unidentified men who stormed RG Kar Hospital, the site of the doctor’s murder, and ransacked the emergency department.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the unruly crowd, and some police vehicles were damaged.
Smaller protests also took place in other Indian cities, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune.
In Kolkata, women marched resolutely, holding placards of protest, their faces illuminated by the glow of mobile phones, candlelight, and flaming torches. Some carried Indian flags. They were joined by men, both young and elderly.
During the marches and at various gatherings near a university, theatre hall, and bus terminus, they stood united, holding hands as the humid air echoed with loud and powerful chants of “we want justice.”
Protesters blew conch shells, a sound considered auspicious.
At the stroke of midnight, as India completed 77 years of independence, the soundscape of protest transformed. The air filled with a spontaneous chorus of the national anthem. Despite the rain that began to fall, the protesters continued their march, either walking in the rain or holding umbrellas over their heads.
“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 fear? Another 50 years?” asked a student.
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.
“‘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 fueled by outrage over local authorities’ handling of the rape and murder of the young trainee doctor.
After a 36-hour shift last Thursday, she had fallen asleep in a seminar room due to the absence of a designated rest area. The next morning, her colleagues discovered her half-naked body on the podium, bearing extensive injuries.
Police later arrested a hospital volunteer worker in connection with what they identified as a case of rape and murder. However, accusations of a cover-up and negligence have arisen.
Consequently, the case has been transferred from local police to the federal Central Bureau of Investigation.
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