Thousands of women across West Bengal are preparing to join the third ‘Reclaim the Night’ march on September 8, expressing their outrage over the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata last month. The demonstration will be held to mark one month of the heinous crime that sparked widespread protests.
The 'Reclaim the Night' demonstration on September 4, the first such gathering since August 14, gained momentum with the air across the state –from small towns to bustling cities– reverberating with the rallying cry of “We want justice”.
Social activist and initiator of the campaign Rimjhim Sinha told PTI, “Initially, we had given a call for a gathering of women during night hours at three to four places but it turned out to be a mass protest. People held demonstrations at multiple points in and around the city and districts in the state.”
Read more: Kolkata: Two held for molesting woman, misbehaving with protesters during Reclaim the Night rally
"We have been getting phone calls and messages from many people since the apolitical movement was initiated. It is a mass uprising. Protesters want a safe environment for women which the successive governments in the state and at the Centre failed to provide in all these years," Sinha said.
{{/usCountry}}"We have been getting phone calls and messages from many people since the apolitical movement was initiated. It is a mass uprising. Protesters want a safe environment for women which the successive governments in the state and at the Centre failed to provide in all these years," Sinha said.
{{/usCountry}}In the first two editions of the protest march, political flags were notably absent but protestors held the national flag, unified in their demand for justice. While the ruling Trinamool Congress dubbed the protests a tactic of the opposition to incite unrest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clarified that it was not a part of the march, and leaders joining the protest did so in their own capacity.
The body of a postgraduate doctor was found in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, with the injuries on her body showing signs of rape. A civic volunteer was arrested the next day in connection with the crime.
Doctors and medical students across the country called a strike, demanding safety for women in the workplace, while protestors in West Bengal slammed the state administration for the investigation in the case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe of the rape-murder case after the Calcutta High Court highlighted shortcomings in the probe conducted by the Kolkata Police.
(With inputs from PTI)