RG Kar Medico Death Case: Kolkata residents turn off lights, hold candlelight protests to demand justice

Kolkata: In a powerful display of solidarity, hundreds of Kolkata residents turned off lights at their homes and took to the streets with candles on Wednesday night to protest against the brutal rape and murder of a postgraduate medico at RG Kar Medical College Hospital.

The protesting doctors had urged people to turn off their lights and light a candle on Wednesday from 9 pm to 10 pm to honour the 31-year-old doctor who was brutally killed on August 9. 

Among the protesters were the parents of the deceased doctor.

Governor of West Bengal CV Ananda Bose also supported the protest by switching off the lights of the Raj Bhavan and lighting a candle.

According to an ANI report, Talking about his decision to participate in the protest, the deceased doctor's father told reporters, "We will have to go; what else can we do? Things are happening very slowly; we can't tolerate it. We have a lot of questions, and we will ask the police the same."

People in huge numbers also gathered at Kolkata's Shyam Bazaar to participate in the protest. Many were seen holding candlelights and some of them were seen waving the national flag.

Protestors at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital also switched off their lights.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Sukanta Majumdar and Agnimitra Paul, also participated in the protest.

Protesters in the Jadavpur area performed street play as a symbol of protest.

Protests were held in Delhi as well. Doctors at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and AIIMS in Delhi carried out a candle protest.

On August 9, the body of the trainee doctor was found in the seminar room of the hospital. The incident sparked nationwide protests.

A civic volunteer was arrested shortly after the trainee doctor's body was discovered. The CBI has also arrested the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, for alleged financial misconduct at the medical establishment.

The gruesome incident also led to the West Bengal Assembly passing unanimously the 'Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) 2024' on Tuesday.

The Bill has provisions for increased punishment for crimes against women. The Bill requires that probe into rape cases be concluded within 24 days of the initial report.

CM Mamata Banerjee said, "I had written two letters to the Prime Minister, but I did not get any reply from him, rather I got a reply from the Minister of Women and Child Development, but I also replied to her reply and informed the Prime Minister. When the Code of Justice Bill was passed in a hurry before the elections, I had said that it should not be passed in a hurry, the states were not consulted in this, news agency ANI reported.

"I had opposed it many times as no advice was taken from the states in this regard, it should have been passed after discussing with the Rajya Sabha, the opposition, and all the parties, but this was not done. That is why today we are bringing this (bill) to secure protection for women. If Bengal is ill-treated, then it will have a spillover effect."