New Delhi: Tens of thousands of people packed the streets of one of India’s biggest cities after doctors resumed a strike and called fresh rallies over the rape and murder of a colleague. The discovery of the 31-year-old’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital in Kolkata two months ago rekindled nationwide anger at the chronic issue of violence against women.
Doctors in the eastern city went on strike for weeks in response and walked off the job again on Tuesday, saying pledges by the West Bengal state government to improve safety and security at hospitals had been unmet.
They were joined on Tuesday evening by thousands of people from all walks of life for a huge protest march, with many carrying the Indian tricolour flag and some staying out until dawn on Wednesday.
“We want to send out the message that our protests will not end until we get justice,” rally organiser Rimjhim Sinha, 29, told AFP at the march.
Kolkata is days away from the start of a festival held in honour of the Hindu warrior goddess Durga, the city’s biggest annual religious celebration. Sinha said that the dozens of civil society groups backing doctors’ calls for public protests would use the occasion to demand an end to violence against women.
“The festival of worshipping Goddess Durga epitomises the victory of good over evil,” she said. “This year it will turn into the festival of protests.”
With further demonstrations called over the coming days, a senior police official told AFP on condition of anonymity that more than 2,500 extra officers had been put on active duty around Kolkata. The victim of the August attack is not being identified in keeping with Indian laws on media reporting of sexual violence cases.
Her father attended Tuesday’s march and told AFP that his family was still “devastated” two months after her death. “My daughter’s soul will not rest in peace until she gets justice,” he said. Doctors had briefly returned to limited duties in emergency departments last month, only to strike again in defiance of a September order from India’s top court to fully return to work.
They say that the state government’s promises to upgrade lighting, CCTV cameras and other security measures in hospitals have not been fulfilled. Tens of thousands of ordinary Indians took part in the protests that followed the August attack. One man has been detained over the murder but the West Bengal government has faced public criticism for its handling of the investigation.
Authorities sacked the city’s police chief and top health ministry officials. The gruesome nature of the attack drew comparisons with the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus, which also sparked weeks of nationwide protests.
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