Protesters being stopped by Kolkata police during their march to Nabanna to mark one-year of the R.G. Kar Hospital rape and murder case, in Kolkata on August 9, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri
Parents of the doctor who was raped and killed at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in West Bengal a year ago on Saturday (August 9,2025) alleged assault by the police during a march to Nabanna, the State Secretariat.
The father and mother of the doctor said that they reached Park Street area in the city by evading the police at multiple points. They were accompanied by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. Near Park Street, the police resorted to baton-charge to disperse the crowd.
The mother said that police personnel hit her with baton and she suffered injuries on her hand. “Police assaulted me. They also broke my bangles,” she said. A swelling on her forehead could be seen but it was not clear whether it was due to use of force by the police. The father also said that he was attacked by the police. The two were admitted to a private hospital in the city. The police, however, denied reports of assault on the doctor’s parents. “The police did not do anything to the parents. But their allegations will be duly investigated,” DC (Port) Harikrishna Pai told reporters.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari along with other BJP leaders participated in the protest march. Mr. Adhikari visited the hospital to meet the doctor’s parents. “The injuries to the mother are quite serious. The father’s condition is a bit better,” he told media persons.
The BJP leader said that about 100 people sustained injuries in the attack and 18 had to be hospitalised. “They have attacked the parents of the victim. This is people of the State versus Mamata,” Mr. Adhikari said. At the protest venue, he targeted senior police officers using objectionable language. The alleged assault on the parents of the R.G. Kar victim drew sharp reactions from various quarters, including doctors who had participated in protests over the rape and murder of the doctor about a year ago.
During the day, another gathering was held at Hazra crossing, which was organised by Abhaya Manch, a civil society forum seeking justice for the R.G. Kar victim. Members of civil society groups and doctors who had participated in the protests joined the gathering not far from the residence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Among those protesting was Sabina Sheikh, the mother of Tamanna Khatun, a nine-year-old girl who was killed in a crude bomb attack at Kaliganj in Nadia on June 23. “Mamata has created goons across the State. They killed my Tamanna. She was so little… Neither the mother of Tamanna nor the mother of Abhaya will stop,” Ms. Sheikh said.
The Trinamool Congress in a post on social media, said that “the R.G. Kar tragedy shook the nation’s conscience and left an unhealable scar” and “the pain endured by the victim’s family still weighs heavily on us”. The State’s ruling party said that it had passed the Aparajita Anti-Rape Bill, proposing harshest punishment for rapists as well as swift and watertight investigations. However, it added, the “@narendramodi government chose obstruction over action, raising frivolous objections and sending the Bill back for reconsideration”.
Thousands of protesters had descended on the streets of Kolkata on Saturday (August 9, 2025) on the call given by the R.G. Kar victim’s parents to join the march to Nabanna to mark one year of the gruesome crime. The protesters were seen carrying the tri-colour besides posters and banners demanding justice for the victim and the resignation of the Chief Minister.
Massive police deployments, along with RAF personnel and even water cannons, have been made at all strategic points in Kolkata and Howrah where the progress of the agitators is to be halted. The parents of the R.G. Kar victim and BJP leaders remained camped on the streets at several strategic positions leading to the State Secretariat.
One year ago, in the early morning on August 9, 2024, a woman postgraduate trainee doctor, who was on duty the night before, was raped and killed inside a seminar room on the fourth floor of the emergency building of RGKMCH.
In January this year, a sessions court in Kolkata convicted a civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy, of raping and murdering her and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The parents of the victim, however, say that at first Kolkata Police and now the CBI is trying to shield culprits who tortured and killed their daughter.
On Thursday (August 7, 2025), a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, while hearing a petition for the prohibition of ‘Nabanna Abhijaan’ (march to Nabanna), held that the right to protest is a fundamental right. However, it also noted that “it will be open for the government” to implement the said prohibitory order in accordance with law and inform the organisers about adequate alternative place for protest.
Published – August 09, 2025 02:47 pm IST
