Doctors across India staged protests on Monday, August 12, calling for justice and improved workplace safety following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata.
The victim’s body was discovered in a seminar hall at R.G. Kar Medical College on the morning of Friday, August 9, after she was reportedly sexually assaulted and murdered the previous night, according to local media.
Healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and medical students, held demonstrations in cities such as Kolkata, Lucknow, Chandigarh, and New Delhi. Protesters marched, chanted, and held sit-ins outside university hospitals, displaying signs that voiced their anger and frustration.
“This was a heinous crime against a woman who was also a doctor. We demand justice without any political interference in the investigation,” said Koustav Nanda, a protester at King George’s Medical University in Lucknow.
Many protesters echoed Nanda’s call for the case to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Monday that the principal of R.G. Kar Medical College had resigned. She also set a deadline for police to apprehend the suspect by Sunday, August 18, warning that if the deadline is not met, the case will be handed over to the CBI.
