'Take back the night': Thousands protest in India after rape and murder of doctor | Protest news

Protesters across India are demanding better safety for women after the body of a trainee doctor was found in a government hospital.

Thousands of people protested in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta against the rape and murder of a doctor in a state hospital. The incidents led to demonstrations across India calling for greater safety for women.

The protests took place in over 100 locations in Kolkata and spread to surrounding cities in the state of West Bengal late Wednesday evening. Rallies continued in several other Indian cities until the early hours of Thursday morning.

The 31-year-old doctor-in-training was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital; her battered body was discovered last week.

Large crowds of men and women marched through the streets of Calcutta, and a candlelight rally was held at midnight to coincide with the start of Indian Independence Day celebrations on Thursday.

Protesters in Kolkata and other cities, marching under the slogan “Take back the night,” called for a more comprehensive fight against violence against women and held handwritten signs demanding action.

“We want justice,” read one sign at a rally in Calcutta. “Hang the rapist, save the women,” read another.

Many government hospitals in cities across India shut down all operations except emergency departments earlier this week, while junior doctors sat outside the doors in protest, demanding justice for the victim.

“Doctors across the country are wondering what is so difficult about passing a law for our safety,” Dhruv Chauhan of the Junior Doctors' Network of the Indian Medical Association told the Press Trust of India news agency. “The strike will continue until all demands are formally met.”

“It's not just about one night. Women should have the freedom and opportunity to go out every night so that in the future, a girl's parents will not have to worry about whether or not her child will come home safely late in the evening,” Shalini Datta, one of the protesters, told The Telegraph, a Calcutta-based newspaper.

Tanushree Das attended a rally with her daughter. “I believe the night is not just for men, women also have equal rights. We have come together to claim this space for ourselves so that women are no longer afraid of the night,” she said.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not specifically refer to the Kolkata case in his speech at the Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi on Thursday, he expressed his “pain” at violence against women.

“There is anger about the atrocities against our mothers and sisters, there is anger in the nation about that,” he said.

“Crimes against women must be investigated promptly; heinous behaviour against women must be punished severely and swiftly,” he added.

“This is essential to create deterrence and trust in society.”

Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released late last year shows that the number of crimes against women in India increased by 4 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.

At a protest rally in Kolkata, a male participant, Neel Ghosh, said: “Now there is only room for justice, nothing else. We will not settle for anything less than real justice.”