Bengali film industry protests Kolkata rape-murder, demands justice

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], September 8 (ANI): Artists and technicians of the Bengali film industry on Sunday held a protest march against the Kolkata rape and murder incident and demanded justice for the victim.

A protestor while speaking to ANI said that the protest will continue till justice is served.

“As long as we are not getting due justice, the protest will be on,” she said.

Another protestor said, “We are fighting for justice, we want justice and we will get justice. We are fighting for ourselves, every lady and our protection.”

The brutal rape and murder of a trainee woman doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has sparked widespread protests in West Bengal and across the country. The victim was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

People from the medical fraternity, activists and local citizens on Sunday formed a human chain in Siliguri to protest against the RG Kar rape and murder case and demanded justice for the victim.

Earlier today, sculptors of Kumartuli held a protest in Kolkata against the Kolkata rape and murder incident.

People also held a torch march protest in Kolkata against the rape and murder incident.

BJP workers protested in the Kolkata Esplanade area against the incident.

Rickshaw pullers in Kolkata also held protests against the rape-murder incident.

In a related development, BJP MP Jyotirmay Singh Mahato on Sunday wrote a letter to the Director of ED requesting an investigation and arrest of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in connection with health scams involving Sandip Ghosh and the RG Kar Case.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar on Sunday wrote to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and offered his resignation from the post of MP.

“I have suffered patiently for a month since the terrible incident at RG Kar Hospital, & was hoping for your direct intervention with the agitating junior doctors, in the old style of Mamata Banerjee. It has not happened & whatever punitive steps that govt is taking now are too little & quite late. I think normalcy may have been restored in this state much earlier if the caucus of the corrupt doctors was smashed and those guilty of taking improper administrative actions punished immediately after the scandalous incident happened,” reads the letter.

The incident has sparked a war of words between the BJP and the state government, with the BJP demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

On Thursday, the victim’s family accused the Kolkata Police of attempting to offer them money while they were grieving with their daughter’s remains.

Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer at the G Kar Medical College and Hospital, has been arrested in connection with the incident.

On September 2, the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Dr Sandip Ghosh, along with three others, over alleged corruption and financial misconduct at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, has been remanded to 8-day police custody. The next hearing of the case will be on September 10.

On September 3, amid protests over the Kolkata rape and murder case, the West Bengal Assembly unanimously passed the ‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) 2024’.

The Bill introduces the death penalty or life-long imprisonment for rape by amending the relevant sections in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the new penal code.

On September 6, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose referred the Aparajita Bill to President Droupadi Murmu for consideration.