On August 9th, a thirty-one-year-old trainee doctor’s body was found in a seminar room of the R.G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata, India. Her body was found in a horrifying state, with blood and bruises covered all over her. She was strangled to death and brutally raped according to her autopsy. It also highlights severe injuries in her genital areas, body and mouth.
This incident caused an outbreak in India, people, especially women in the medical industry, were furious and appalled. Strikes broke out, people revolted on the streets of Kolkata near R.G. Kar Medical College with candles in their hands to demand stricter security. Not only in Kolkata but all over India, people have marched for several hours to raise their concerns about women’s safety and treatment in the country. The Indian Medical Association, representing over 3.5 lakh doctors, called a 24-hour nationwide strike on August 17, starting at 6 a.m. Their strike included discarding health services and selective operations for the day only for non-emergency means, all emergency-associated services were operational.
Protests erupted in many cities, with doctors, nurses, and medical students marching on the streets to express their solidarity and demand action. In Kolkata, healthcare professionals have done sit-ins and marches, holding placards and chanting slogans demanding justice. Similarly in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and other major cities, doctors have gathered outside hospitals and government offices to voice their concerns and opinions on this situation.
Due to all the revolts, voices were heard and the government took a deeper step into the case by investigating what happened. This investigation led to the arrest of Sanjay Roy.
He was taken onto a lie detector test as he was the last one seen entering and leaving the seminar room where Dr Moumita Debnath was found dead. During the test, he claimed he didn’t rape or murder her, but before entering the college he did go to 2 red-light areas and later, molested a woman on the street. Hence, he already had a history of domestic abuse. Despite this arrest, the country’s people still want a further investigation into this situation to figure out what really happened.
Due to the outrages of people, the Indian Medical Association have asked for a mending of the working and living conditions for resident medical workers, while also demanding compulsory security measures in hospitals. Although, their main demand is to enforce a law, preventing violence against medical workers. They have also stated that all hospitals should be made in safe zones with sufficient security.
This incident has sparked throughout the nation and people are speaking more about gender-based violence. Gender-based violence has been an issue in India for an unfortunately long time. One in three women in India has experienced some form of violence, according to a National Health Survey sampling nearly 725,000 women from the country.
There have been new, stricter laws enforced in India because of the 2012 gang rape in Delhi, including longer sentences and sometimes even death penalties in cases of rape. Yet the number of confirmed cases of rape has risen from 337,922 in 2014 to 445,256 in 2022.
Written by Ratisha Khare
