On Tuesday, 27th August, Kolkata Police resorted to lathi charges, water cannons, and used tear gas canons to chase away peaceful demonstrators at the Howrah Bridge area to Santragachhi Railway station on the Kona Expressway. The police action was ordered to stop the protestors from reaching the State Secretariat, Nabanna.
The enraged protestors had organized the protests to demand the removal of CM Mamata Banerjee from her position given her failure to take action against the culprits in the Kolkata rape and murder case.
Absolute Fire Visuals!
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) August 27, 2024
The end of the tyranny of Mamata Banerjee is upon us!#MamataMustResign pic.twitter.com/5B9hPZaV4j
As per the reports, the police action injured several students. Meanwhile the enraged demonstrators also at Santragachhi reportedly clashed with the police.
Police claimed that they began lathi charges and tear gas canons only after agitators breached barricades in several areas and allegedly attacked security personnel. Chaos is said to have developed when the student organization ‘Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj’ and the dissident State government employees’ platform ‘Sangrami Joutha Mancha’ launched their ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ rally from various locations.
Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, asserted that police used “brutal repression” against peaceful protesters and warned to halt West Bengal if the “brutalities” by the State administration continued.
“Police are using water cannons on peaceful protestors in Santragachi, bursting tear gas shells on students at Howrah Bridge, and lathi charging them on College Street. Please put an end to these brutalities immediately,” the senior BJP leader told reporters.
Adhikari went on to say, “If the police repression is not stopped immediately, We (BJP) will stall West Bengal tomorrow”.
RG Kar Medical College Rape and Murder Case
On 9th August, a semi-nude, brutalised body of a female PG trainee doctor was found inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. It is a government-run hospital. The gruesome murder of a PG doctor at her own workplace soon became a nationwide issue, especially with the people reacting strongly to the Bengal govt, and the hospital’s initial attempts to cover up the case. The victim’s family narrated that they were initially told their daughter had committed suicide.
The doctor had dinner with four of her coworkers at 2:30 am that night after seeing Neeraj Chopra’s javelin throw event during the Paris Olympics. Afterwards, she went to the seminar hall to relax. The main accused in the case, Sanjay Roy, had access to every department as he worked at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital police outpost. He was not affiliated with the institution but often went there. CCTV evidence shows him entering the premises where the doctor was discovered, which led to his arrest on 10th August. He returned home after committing the horrifying act and slept in late. Roy also cleaned the outfit he wore to remove any evidence. The police recovered his bloodstained shoes during a search.
The Doctor was brutally tortured before she was suffocated to death, according to the post-mortem report. The four-page report stated that she had been strangled and that “perverted sexuality” and “genital torture” had resulted in serious wounds in her private parts.
According to sources, the Doctor’s head was slammed against a wall or the floor resulting in severe injuries, and her mouth and nose were squeezed shut to stop the victim from shouting. The accused had reportedly beaten her up as she attempted to defend herself and resist. He then raped and killed her. According to the autopsy, the girl’s hands and face had cuts on them. Shards of glass from her spectacles broke and got into her eyes following an intense blow. The initial postmortem report ruled out suicide and stated that the trainee doctor had been sexually assaulted before being murdered.
