August 9 marks one year since the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. On the night of August 8 this year, junior doctors in Kolkata will stay awake and hold a peaceful procession in protest of the horrific crime. Junior doctors have called for a procession with mashaal (torch) on the night of August 8.

On August 8, 2024, between 12 midnight and 4 am, a medical student was sexually assaulted and murdered inside the seminar room of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. Her naked and bleeding body was recovered the next morning.

Junior doctors to skip BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s protest

Meanwhile, leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari has called for a large protest programme on August 9, where multiple issues, including the RG Kar incident, will be highlighted, according to the state BJP. He has also invited the deceased junior doctor’s parents to join.

However, protesting doctors will not be participating in the procession called by Suvendu Adhikari on August 9, the ‘West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front’ confirmed this at a press conference on Monday.

At the press conference, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front said, “We are doctors. Our protest will be peaceful as per the constitution. On the night of August 8, we will hold a torchlight procession as a symbolic protest against the RG Kar case. But we will not be present at Suvendu Adhikari’s political programme on August 9.”

They further stated that the solution to the problems faced by doctors and staff in the medical system cannot be solved through political means, but through transparent administrative and policy interventions.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is somewhat uneasy about this decision. A source in the state BJP said, “We had hoped that the doctors would be present at the programme. However, we respect their decision.”

By distancing themselves from the political platform, doctors have delivered a different message to society. Many believe that their peaceful torch march is not just a protest, but the beginning of a new path for demanding transparency and safety in the medical system.

Protesting doctors to gather in front of ‘Cry of Hour’ sculpture

Invoking the memory of the horrific crime committed exactly a year ago inside the 138-year-old government hospital in Kolkata where a girl was not only brutally raped and tortured but also murdered, junior doctors are taking to the streets at midnight on August 8.

The doctors front has called for a gathering in Shyambazar at 12 midnight that day. There will be a torch-lit procession from Shyam Bazar to College Square. The doctors have urged everyone to join. Protesting doctors will gather in front of the controversial ‘Cry of Hour’ sculpture located within the hospital premises not only on August 8, but also on the morning of August 9.