Thousands of women took to the streets in several cities across India Wednesday night, holding candles and signs that said “reclaim the night” to protest the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor in Kolkata last week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for strict punishment of crimes against woman, speaking against “the atrocities committed against our mothers, daughters and sisters.”
“There is outrage against this in the country,” he said. “I can feel this outrage.”
India’s top police agency on Wednesday took over the investigation of the case, which prompted a strike by doctors calling for safer working conditions.
The woman’s body was discovered Friday in a state-run hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, where she was a resident doctor. An autopsy confirmed she was sexually assaulted and killed.
Authorities arrested a police volunteer in connection with the crime.
On Monday, thousands of doctors marched in Kolkata and across West Bengal to protest the killing. They demanded justice for the victim and improved security at hospitals.
The protest spread nationwide on Tuesday, disrupting hospital services in several Indian cities. More than 8,000 government doctors halted work in all hospital departments except emergency services.
In New Delhi, junior doctors protested outside a major government hospital, holding signs that read, “Doctors are not punching bags,” according to Reuters.
Doctors in government hospitals across several states have suspended elective services indefinitely, calling for swift justice and better workplace safety.
Sexual violence against women is a serious issue in India. In 2022, there were nearly 90 reported rapes daily in the country of 1.4 billion people.
This case has drawn comparisons to the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus, which led to significant public outcry and reforms.
In response to the 2012 incident, the government introduced harsher penalties for rape, including the death penalty for repeat offenders, and established new sexual offenses such as stalking.
Officials who failed to register rape complaints also faced jail sentences.
Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
