Kolkata, 15 August 2024 (TDI): Tens of thousands of women in West Bengal protested on Wednesday night against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata last week.
The Reclaim the Night march was the culmination of nearly a week of frenzied demonstrations ignited by the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old woman trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College last Friday.
Responding to calls on social media, women from all fields of life protested in Kolkata city and throughout West Bengal state on a rainy Wednesday night.
Smaller demonstrations were also held in many other Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Pune.
In Kolkata, the peaceful demonstrations 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 rape and murder, and ransacked the emergency department.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the unruly protesters. Some police vehicles were also damaged.
Elsewhere in the city, women marched resolutely, holding placards, their faces illuminated by the glow of mobile phones, flaming torches and candlelight . Some carried national flags. They were joined by protesting men.
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During the marches and at many gatherings near a university, theatre hall and bus terminus, they stood united, holding hands as they echoed loud and powerful chants of “we want justice”.
At the stroke of midnight, as the country completed 77 years of Independence, the soundscape of protest changed.
The air filled with a spontaneous chorus of the national anthem. Then it started raining, but the demonstrators walked in the rain, or holding umbrellas over their head.
