On Tuesday, thousands of protesters in Kolkata, India, came face to face with the police over protests against the rape and murder of a doctor a few days ago. The brutal murder of a 31-year-old doctor who suffered an axe blow on her neck and was found dead at a state-run hospital has caused outrage across the country as many continue to endure the violence they face from men.
The protests included thousands of people running to a government construction in Kolkata demanding the removal of Mamata Banerjee who is the chief minister of West Bengal. The people, who had planned to demonstrate only, were aggressive upon confrontation with the police and tried to disperse the demonstration with the use of tear gas, water cannons, batons, etc.
Namita Ghosh, a college student attending the protest said that for a while, the protesters were not violent to anyone and the police were the first to act aggressively. A senior police official on conditionality supported that not less than 100 protesters were arrested for the alleged promotion of violence during the protest.
The protests have also assumed a political spin with the BJP targeting the Banerjee government for its inefficiency in safeguarding women in the state. The BJP, the central ruling party which is in opposition at the state level in West Bengal has used the incident to comment on the safety of the state.
The killing of the doctor has also led to boycotts by doctors’ associations in several cities but they have since gone back to work. Police have arrested one suspect in connection with the crime and although many people are dissatisfied with the state government they are not yet disillusioned.