Kolkata, 15 October (H.S.): More than a hundred social activists associated with Abhaya Manch, a platform formed in the wake of the rape and murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Medical College, staged a protest in Kolkata’s Jadavpur area on Tuesday night under the campaign titled “Reclaim the Night Again.”

The protest was organised in solidarity with the survivor of the recent gang-rape near a private medical college in Durgapur. The call for the demonstration was given by Abhaya Manch’s “Women–Trans–Queer United” wing.

Gathering at the iconic 8B Bus Stand in Jadavpur around 8 p.m., the protesters demanded exemplary punishment for the accused. They held placards seeking safety for women and sang protest songs including “We Shall Overcome,” “Intezaar Hai,” and “Aar Kabe” (How Long?).

Among those present were eminent educationist Pavitra Sarkar and several leaders from various social movements. Writer and activist Satabdi Das, spokesperson of the forum, said, “On August 8 last year, we took to the streets all night to protest the brutal crime against our sister from RG Kar. Yet nothing has changed. Women, even doctors, remain unsafe within and around medical college campuses.”

The demonstrators also criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her recent remark advising students not to venture out late at night. They expressed displeasure over the Chief Minister’s failure to visit the Durgapur survivor and her parents at the hospital.

According to reports, the survivor, a native of Odisha, was returning from dinner with a friend on the night of October 10 when a group of men allegedly intercepted and gang-raped her near Shyampur in Durgapur — about 170 km from Kolkata.

It is noteworthy that after the RG Kar Medical College incident last year on August 8, thousands of people, especially women, had taken to the streets in protest during August and September. The movement was then called “Raat Hamari” or “Reclaim the Night.”

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh