In solidarity with doctors, thousands of people marched in the streets of Kolkata on the evening of Sunday 18th August chanting “we want justice”, as they demand stringent laws to protect health care workers from violence and to seek justice for their colleague who was raped and killed at a state-run hospital.
Dr. Moumita, a postgraduate trainee was raped and murdered on August 9 in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, triggering massive protests across the country.
Alleged to be the culprit is a police volunteer, designated to help police personnel and their families with hospital admissions when needed.
According to Hafsa H Malik, a fellow medical doctor in India, on X social media platform recounted the ugly event: “On the night of August 8th, a 31-year-old female doctor diligently completed her duty, as she had done countless times before, after finishing her shift, she shared a quiet meal with her juniors at 2a: m, Exhausted from the long hours, she sought a moment of rest.
“With no designated room provided for doctors, she settled down to sleep in the seminar room, a makeshift refuge for those who work tirelessly through the night. Little did she know, this would be the last time she closed her eyes with a sense of routine comfort.
“On the morning of August 9th, Assistant Superintendent Dwaipayan Biswas informed the family that their beloved daughter had tragically died by suicide. When the grieving family arrived at the hospital, they were subjected to the indignity of waiting outside for three hours.”
Malik exposed that the deceased was naked and “her body lay uncovered. Additionally, her legs were positioned at a right angle, suggesting severe trauma to her pelvic girdle.
The X user emphasized that the body of the late postgraduate doctor was not found where she went to rest, was rather located “in the room across the hall, where construction work was underway.
“The preliminary autopsy uncovered harrowing details: – An alarming 150 grams of semen was discovered in her body, far exceeding the typical 15 grams produced by an average male.
“Her eyes were severely affected, with the lenses from her glasses having shattered and embedded in her eyes, causing significant bleeding, her lips were battered, and there were unmistakable signs of a violent struggle.
“The evidence indicated that her death occurred between 3 and 5 AM on August 9, 2024. These findings unequivocally pointed to a horrific sexual assault.
“CCTV footage has unveiled the identity of the prime suspect, Sanjay Roy, a Civic Assistant who has been remanded to police custody until August 23. Sanjay has confessed to the grievous crime, marking him as the sole individual apprehended thus far.
“In the wake of the tragic events, the parents voiced their profound distrust in the State Police, fearing that the investigation would falter and the perpetrators would evade justice.
“Seeking redress, they met with Mamata Banerjee, the Home and Health Minister of Bengal, on August 12. Mamata responded with urgency, instructing the state police to conclude the investigation by August 18.
“However, on August 13, the Court took a decisive step by ordering a CBI probe, intensifying the quest for truth and justice amidst the family’s overwhelming grief and anxiety.
“As a fellow member of the medical fraternity, I am beset with profound anguish and a deep sense of loss, knowing intimately the arduous journey and unwavering dedication required to attain the esteemed position of a postgraduate physician.
“The mere thought of Dr. Moumita’s truncated career and brutal fate is suffocating, and I can only begin to fathom the unmitigated despair that her parents must be enduring. “She empathized.
However, the victim’s parents said they suspected their daughter was gang-raped while an autopsy confirmed sexual assault and, in a petition to the court, the city police were accused by an angry public of mishandling the case and the Calcutta High Court transferred the investigation to India’s top investigating agency Central Bureau of Investigation to “inspire public confidence”.
The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital has led to furious protests in several cities across the country.
Many of those protests have been led by doctors and other healthcare workers but also joined by tens of thousands of common Indians from all walks of life demanding action.
Thousands held a candlelight vigil. “Hands that heal shouldn’t bleed,” read one sign, “Enough is enough,” read another at a rally by doctors in the capital, New Delhi. “Hang the rapist,” another said.
The Indian Medical Association appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter that, as 60 percent of India’s doctors are women, he needed to intervene to ensure hospital staff were protected by security protocols akin to those at airports.
Prime Minister Modi responded that “monstrous behavior against women should be severely and quickly punished”.
IMA described the killing as a “crime of barbaric scale due to the lack of safe spaces for women” and asked for the country’s support in its “struggle for justice”.
The association’s president, R. V. Asokan affirmed doctors been suffering and protesting against violence for years, but that this incident was “qualitatively different”.
If such a crime can happen in a medical college in a major city, it shows “everywhere doctors are unsafe”, he said
The IMA also issued a list of demands including the strengthening of the law to better protect medical staff against violence, increasing the level of security at hospitals and the creation of safe spaces for rest.
It called for a “meticulous and professional investigation” into the killing and the prosecution of those involved in vandalizing, as well as compensation for the woman’s family.
The All India Residents and Junior Doctors’ Joint Action Forum declared it would continue a “nationwide cease-work” with a 72-hour deadline for authorities to conduct a thorough inquiry and make arrests.
In Modi’s home state of Gujarat, more than 6,000 trainee doctors in government hospitals continued to stay away from nonemergency medical services on Sunday for a third day, although private institutes resumed regular operations.
The woman’s rape and killing has sparked a political blame game in West Bengal, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the governing Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) of orchestrating the attack.
The TMC has refuted the allegation and has blamed “political outsiders” for stoking the violence.
Tens of thousands of women across West Bengal participated in the Reclaim the Night march on Wednesday night to demand “independence to live in freedom and without fear”.
Though the protests were largely peaceful, clashes erupted between the police and a small group of unidentified men who barged into the RG Kar Hospital – the site of the crime – and ransacked its emergency ward.
At least 25 people have been arrested in connection with the incident so far.
Protests have also been held in many other Indian cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

Sources: Al Jazeera, NEW DELHI (AP), AFP NEWS, BBC, twitter: @kashmiricanibal