(Calcutta) Des milliers de manifestants indiens indignés, dont des partisans de soccer et des avocats, ont réclamé justice à Calcutta après le viol et le meurtre d’une médecin de leur ville, tandis que les soignants entament leur seconde semaine de grève généralisée.
« Nous sommes avec les médecins […] “We want justice,” chanted supporters of various clubs in the city, despite torrential monsoon rains and police attempts to disperse the gathering.
In a rare show of unity, East Bengal FC and Mohun Bagan supporters marched side by side in a late-night rally that lasted into the early hours of Monday.
“We have forgotten our rivalries to join hands and demand justice for the doctor and her family,” said Bablu Mukherjee, a Mohun Bagan supporter.
“The cause is more important than our club, and even more important than politics,” he added.
Hundreds of lawyers, mostly women, joined the protests in Kolkata, marching in black robes. “No mercy for rapists,” read one banner.
PHOTO DIBYANGSHU SARKAR, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Hundreds of lawyers, mostly women, joined the protests in Kolkata.
While many protests in several cities across the country were led by health workers, they were joined by tens of thousands of Indians from different backgrounds.
“This is not just a protest, but a call to humanity,” said Sristi Haldar, a 23-year-old student of Presidency College, who joined the rally.
Hearing scheduled for Tuesday
On Saturday morning, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) intensified the protest by declaring a 24-hour strike, except for emergency services.
Doctors from government hospitals across the country continued the protest on Monday, with doctors from the hospital where the murder took place in Calcutta gathering outside the building.
PHOTO ADNAN ABIDI, REUTERS
Doctors are protesting.
They are demanding the implementation of the Central Protection Act to protect health workers from violence.
“We are determined not to give in to pressures that push us to remain silent. […] “The protests will continue until justice is done,” said Shreya Shaw, a doctor.
The Supreme Court of India has also taken up the case, overseeing the process before the Calcutta High Court, with a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Sexual violence against women is widespread in India, with an average of nearly 90 rapes per day reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people.
The latest attack has brought back memories of the gang rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in New Delhi in 2012.
Indian media reported on Monday the arrest of five people accused of raping a child at a bus station in the northern state of Uttarakhand.