The protesters are demanding the resignation of the top elected official in the state of West Bengal, where the crime took place.
Police used tear gas, water cannon and lathi charge to break up a protest against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.
The mob, led by protesting university students, broke barricades put up by security forces and demanded the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the state’s top elected official, over the way the matter was handled.
The rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor while on duty at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9 sparked outrage and protests across India, highlighting the prevalence of sexual violence in the country.
Some of the protesters demanding Banerjee’s resignation were from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition to the chief minister’s Trinamool Congress party in the state.
Police banned a BJP rally in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, because it was deemed illegal and would have led to road blockages. Some schools and workplaces gave people a day off work as protests could lead to traffic blockages, local media reported.
Four student activists were arrested ahead of the rally and charged with conspiring to carry out large-scale violence, police said.
Namita Ghosh, a college student involved in the protest, told AFP news agency that the crowd was demonstrating “peacefully” before being dispersed by police with batons.
Around 5,000 police personnel have been deployed in Kolkata and neighbouring city Howrah, a senior official said.
Trinamool Congress party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh blamed the “anarchy” created by BJP workers for the police action.
The BJP is supporting the protesting students. Senior state leader Suvendu Adhikari has said Banerjee’s administration is trying to hush up the murder of the young doctor, a charge the state government has denied.
A police volunteer has been arrested for the crime, but the doctor’s family has alleged that it was a case of gang rape and that more men were involved. The post-mortem confirmed sexual assault.
Protests have taken place in Kolkata and cities across the country demanding justice and a speedy investigation, similar to the massive demonstrations that followed the gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.
Activists say women continue to face high levels of sexual violence despite tough laws enacted since the 2012 attack, which led politicians to order harsher penalties for such crimes and set up dedicated fast-track courts for rape cases. The government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2022, the latest year for which records are available, the police registered 31,516 reports of rape – a 20 per cent increase over 2021.
Doctors in several cities went on strike to protest the crime, disrupting non-essential services, though medical professionals have now returned to work.
Last week, the Supreme Court of India formed a security task force to make recommendations on the safety of healthcare workers.
