Monday, 11 August 2025
Monday, 11 August 2025
The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) held a night-long protest on Friday, calling it Abhaya Raat, to mark a year after the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Starting at 9 pm, the protest began from College Square and moved to Shyambazar, featuring graffiti, live painting, and cultural performances.
Junior Doctors' Forum members, senior doctors and others raised slogans during the torch rally.
Abhaya Raat was the first in a series of demonstrations planned to mark the one year of the rape-murder. Various groups, including medical students and women’s rights organisations, are expected to hold separate events throughout the week.
Saturday, August 9, marked one year since the body of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee was found in a seminar hall of the state run hospital.
Her rape-murder sparked widespread outrage across the state last year, with protests by doctors, students, and civil society groups.
A trial court in Sealdah convicted civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy of rape and murder in January this year, sentencing him to life imprisonment, but the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has continued to probe what it calls a “larger conspiracy” behind the crime.
On July 16, the CBI submitted its fifth status report before the Sealdah court, stating that seven witnesses had been examined. The agency said it had scanned 32 terabytes of CCTV footage as part of its investigation.
The trial in the rape- murder continues at the Sealdah court. Other linked matters are being heard at the Calcutta High Court and at the Alipore court.
Earlier this week, the victim’s parents travelled to Delhi to meet Union home minister Amit Shah and senior CBI officials.
“My daughter died at her workplace. This is one of the rarest incidents in the country. We just want to request Amit Shah to see why our daughter did not get justice till now,” the mother said before leaving Kolkata.
