India, murder of a young doctor. Women's night protest “Reclaim the Night”

They have been in operation since Monday India protests in response to the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at a government medical college hospital in Calcutta. Demonstrators are demanding an investigation, and the medical community is demanding justice and increased safety for healthcare workers.

Protests took place overnight across the country Wednesday into Thursday. Thousands of women in many cities marched through the streets, holding lit candles.

“We came here to demand justice,” Rinky Ghosh, a protester, told Reuters. She stressed that she has a daughter and is “scared to send her anywhere.” “I am scared to send my daughter to college. I want her to stay at home. She shouldn't go anywhere, she should stay at home,” she said. “I am scared, that's why I am here today, because something has to be done. This injustice has to end,” she added.

The protest, dubbed ‘Reclaim the Night’, was held on the eve of the country’s 78th Independence Day and was meant to show dissent and outrage over the lack of safety for women in India, especially at night.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech to the nation on the occasion of the holiday, he assessed that “as a society we must think about the atrocities committed against our mothers, daughters and sisters”. – There is outrage in the country. I feel this outrage – he added. As he said, “a quick investigation and severe punishment of those who commit such monstrous crimes against women is important to instill confidence in society”.

Meanwhile, crimes against women in India rose by 4 per cent in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released late last year.

Colleagues of the murdered 31-year-old doctor told Reuters that she had gone to sleep on a carpet in a seminar room at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital after a 36-hour shift because there are no rest areas for doctors there.

She was found dead on Friday. Police said she had been raped and murdered, and a police volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime. The director of the medical school where the crime took place has resigned.

Reuters obtained a medical report from August 9 that said the victim was found bleeding from the eyes and mouth and had injuries to his legs, abdomen, ankles, right hand and finger.

Earlier this week, many public hospitals in the country suspended their operations, except for emergency departments. Young doctors took to the streets demanding justice as well as improved working conditions.