Indian women lead night protests after doctor’s rape and murder
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 the previous week.
The “Reclaim the Night” march culminated nearly a week of intense demonstrations ignited by the brutal killing of the 31-year-old woman at RG Kar Medical College last Friday.
After enduring a grueling 36-hour shift, the doctor had fallen asleep in a seminar room due to the lack of a proper rest area. The next morning, her half-naked body was discovered by colleagues on the podium, bearing severe injuries. A hospital volunteer has since been arrested in connection with the crime.
In response to calls on social media, women from various walks of life marched across Kolkata and throughout the state, braving the rain on Wednesday night.
While most protests remained peaceful, clashes broke out when a small group of unidentified men stormed RG Kar Hospital, where the murder occurred, and vandalized the emergency department.
Police used tear gas to disperse the violent group, and some police vehicles were damaged in the unrest.
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 India’s 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 united, 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 stroke 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 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 fuelled by anger over local authorities’ handling of the young trainee doctor’s rape and murder.
Police later arrested a hospital volunteer worker in connection with what they said was a case of rape and murder.
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.
Despite scant resources, Kolkata’s Reclaim the Night march appeared to have been meticulously organized. In an advisory, organizers welcomed women and people from marginalized sexual and gender identities to the march.
“Men are welcome as allies and observers,” the advisory added.
They also emphasized 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 had been staged in India.
Inspired by similar marches elsewhere in the world by women to assert their rights to walk in public areas without fear, a march was held in 1978 in Bombay (now Mumbai) in protest against the rape of a woman on the street.
Blank Noise, a community-based art project and activist collective has organized 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.
