Kolkata still has a spine! A first-hand account of ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest over RG Kar doctor’s rape-murder

August 14, 2024, 11:55 pm—an hour that will remain significant to me, as it brought a sense of freedom that I had never known before.

I joined the ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest on Wednesday night. Despite all the apprehensions about how safe it would be to walk the streets at the ‘unholiest of hours’, how would I get back home? - I decided to step out. But, as soon as I began walking, I realised something profound - it didn’t feel unsafe to be out on THIS NIGHT. A feeling which had seemed like a distant luxury to me, first as a girl, then as a teenager, and now as a woman, was suddenly within reach.

Yesterday was different! As I walked, I saw mothers holding their daughters’ hands, fathers proudly letting their daughters lead. I saw octogenarians marching with purpose, toddlers perched on their fathers' shoulders, wide-eyed and curious.

Yesterday was truly different! What I witnessed was an assembly of ordinary people demanding justice, united in a cause that had no political colour. 

Pinjala Kundu, PR manager at a fintech company, said, “I personally didn't expect the whole city to turn up at the protest march. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my city still has a spine. It was heartening to see mothers walking hand-in-hand with their daughters. Even fathers let the daughters take the lead while they stood behind like rocks.”

Her mother, who was also part of the protest, said, “It was my first time going for something like this. I was happy to see people coming out to join this in thousands voluntarily without any kind of political colour.”

Meanwhile, Kolkata-based school teacher Sanhita Ghosh noted, "The biggest motivation for me to be part of this movement is that I have a nine-year-old daughter. I want to ensure a safer future for her."

All you need to know about "Reclaim the Night"

Holding candles, hundreds of thousands of women marched through the night in cities across India, to protest the brutal rape and murder of a young female doctor in a hospital that has fuelled anger over a lack of safety for women despite tough new laws.

The 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and murdered inside the medical college in Kolkata where she worked on Friday, triggering nationwide protests among doctors and drawing parallels to the notorious gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.

The doctor had retired to sleep on a piece of carpet in a seminar room at the RG Kar Medical College after a marathon 36-hour shift, given the lack of dorms or resting rooms for doctors on the premises, her colleagues told Reuters.

She was found dead on Friday. Police said she had been raped and murdered and a police volunteer was subsequently arrested in connection with the crime.

The victim was found bleeding from her eyes and mouth, with injuries to her legs, stomach, ankles, right hand and finger, a doctor's inquest report on August 9 and accessed by Reuters said.

In protests called "Reclaim the Night", women marched across several Indian cities from midnight on Wednesday, on the eve of the country's 78th Independence Day, to protest against the lack of safety for women in India, especially at night.

(With inputs from Reuters)