Kolkata doctor rape case: Vandalism, tear gas, stone pelting - 10 things that claimed ’Reclaim the Night’ march

Kolkata doctor rape case: Unknown miscreants disrupted the peaceful midnight protest against the brutal murder and rape of a trainee doctor at a government-run hospital in West Bengal's capital after midnight on Thursday. Unknown hooligans stormed into RG Kar Medical College and vandalised the protesting site, vehicles, and public property, forcing security officials to disperse the mob.

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Several videos of the unknown miscreant attempting to create chaos in the protest have been making the rounds on the internet. The midnight protests began at 11:55 pm across key areas in small towns and big cities, including parts of Kolkata, as a part of the 'Reclaim the Night' campaign, which gained momentum through social media. 

Kolkata RG Kar doctor murder and rape case: Top 10 things about midnight protest

-Nearly 40 people, masquerading as protestors entered into the hospital premises. Before anyone could understand, they began destroying the property and pelting the police personnel with stones. The police retaliated with tear gas shells to disperse the crowd, reported PTI citing police.

-The miscreants were carrying sticks, bricks and rods, and they even destroyed the Emergency ward, the hospital's nursing station, the medical store, and even a section of RG Kar Hospital's Out Patients Department (OPD) ward.

-The hooligans also destroyed the CCTV cameras in and around the area. They also ransacked a stage where the junior doctors were demonstrating since August 9 evening following the death of the physician, reported PTI.

-A police vehicle was overturned and several two-wheelers parked there were also damaged in the incident, and some police officers suffered injuries.

-One of the videos from the protesting site captured masked miscreants breaking chairs and vandalising college properties amid a protest at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata.

-Another social media user shared a video and claimed that miscreants were brought in trucks to the protest site to create chaos amid the protest against the alleged murder and rape of an on-duty trainee doctor in Kolkata. Mint could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

-"The goons entered the campus and beat up agitating doctors. This was an attempt to break our morale so that we back out from the protest. But such incidents have only strengthened our resolve to fight till the end," PTI quoted one of the protesting doctors.

-Miscreants tried to get into the peaceful ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest march despite repeated requests from the protesting medical students, a final year MBBS student from Kolkata Anupam Roy told ANI. The violent mob attacked the protest site despite the presence of police personnel.  

-“Shockingly there used to be a lot of police when protests used to happen but when the mob arrived, there were only a few police personnel present at the spot,” the final year MBBS student told ANI.

-Day after the violent mob attack on RG Kar college protest site, Kolkata Police on Thursday issued a clarification that the crime scene of the rape and murder of a junior doctor was not disturbed during the attack.

“The crime scene is the seminar room and it has not been touched. Don't spread unverified news. We will initiate legal action for spreading rumours,” Kolkata Police wrote in a post on X.

-The incident received severe backlash from BJP, Congress, and TMC leaders. Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee said, "The hooliganism and vandalism at RG Kar tonight have exceeded all acceptable limits."

-Doctors and students are protesting across the nation after a postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead after being allegedly raped in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. The CBI on Wednesday took over the Kolkata doctor rape and murder case and launched its investigation after court's intervention.