Thousands of women took to the streets across India in “Reclaim the Night” protests following the rape and murder of Moumita Debnath, a 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, on August 9. Debnath had come off a 36-hour shift and was sleeping in a seminar room when she was attacked.
The incident sparked hundreds of protests across Kolkata that quickly spread across the country, demanding justice and an end to sexual violence.
Ipil Monica Baski, a student activist at Jadavpur University (JU), Kolkata, has been involved in organising the protests and is a member of the All India Students Assocation (AISA). She told 91̳ the attack was “extremely brutal” and news “spread like wildfire”, with protests taking place immediately.
Students at JU organised a Reclaim the Night protest around their campus on August 14, and it quickly gained momentum.
“This idea of women reclaiming space at night quickly spread in and around Kolkata and into the districts across West Bengal.
“Then it spread outside West Bengal, in Delhi, Mumbai, everywhere.”
Women in India face high rates of sexual violence. The National Crime Records Bureau reported an average of 86 rape cases a day in 2022 and many more went unreported.
“Rapes take place in India everyday,” Baski said. “But most of the time nobody bats an eye.”
This particular case received more attention because the victim came from a middle class and higher caste background, she said.
“India is dissected on a caste and class basis … if a rape happens to a Dalit [low caste] or an Adivasi [Indigenous] woman in a rural area, it doesn’t strike a chord with the average middle-class Indian.”
Only days later, a young Adivasi college student was raped, but her case has not received the same attention.
“The fact that [Debnath] was a doctor, that it took place in Kolkata and in a workplace also makes a difference.”
Baski said there is a strong culture of victim-blaming, with women asked “what were you doing?” or “what were you wearing?” But in this case, the victim was at work.
“She was not out at night, she was not wearing certain clothes … it was a very normal night for her and suddenly something terrible and gruesome happened to her.”
This has drawn thousands of people out on the streets who do not normally join protests. “It is everyone.”
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Doctors strike
Doctors at public hospitals across the country went on strike, with many hospitals suspending all services except for emergency services.
“Doctors are asking for justice, but also for security, surveillance, hygiene and better working conditions.”
The Indian Medical Association said in 2021 more than 75% of the country’s doctors had faced some form of violence at work.
Public hospital infrastructure is sub-par, Baski said. “Workers have no access to washrooms or proper hygiene. There is no CCTV or security guards present."
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda met with representatives of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FRDA) and promised to meet their demands and implement a Central Healthcare Protection act to bring protections for healthcare workers across all states into line.
In response, the FRDA called off its support for the strike — although thousands of doctors continue to protest, and nothing has yet been delivered.
Dhruv Chauhan, from the Indian Medical Association’s Junior Doctors’ Network, told the Press Trust of India news agency: “Doctors nationwide are questioning what is so difficult about enacting a law for our security. The strike will continue until all demands are formally met.”
Governments have advocated preventing women doctors from working night shifts, “but that is not the point, women doctors want to work … the government is not listening to them or to the protest movement”, Baski said.
Doctors and other professionals don’t protest often, Baski said. This is the first time in a long time that doctors have protested for their rights.
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Attempted cover up
Police and others have been accused of attempting to cover up the incident. Initially reporting it as a suicide, the victim's parents were not even allowed to see the body.
“When the protests started there were huge crowds outside RG Kar, [but] all of a sudden they started renovating the building — in the middle of an ongoing investigation,” Baski said.
“Then, in the middle of the night we heard that hundreds of mobsters got inside the RG Kar campus and burnt down the evidence room, beat up protesters and chased women from their accommodation and forced them to hide in washroom stalls…
“Police did nothing to stop them, and the [West Bengal Chief Minister] claimed it was an AI video.”
Under pressure, the Central Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation from the state government.
However, Baski said, the central BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is opportunistically using this incident to undermine the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of West Bengal.
Some are demanding the TMC chief minister step down, “but we don’t think that is a solution”.
“BJP will absolutely try to take hold of the state, and that would be a far worse situation.
“It is also funny to suddenly hear the BJP talking about women’s rights and safety when they have never cared about it before … they are not genuinely concerned, but see it as a political opportunity.
“The authorities are definitely not on our side.”
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Patriarchy
Patriarchy is to blame for violence against women, Baski said. “We talk about women’s safety a lot … but we don’t talk about patriarchy, the root cause of it.
“It is taboo to talk about sex, but it should not be. We are never taught about consent.
“Women are taught about ‘bad touch’ and ‘good touch’, but men are never taught that you shouldn’t be touching a woman without her consent.”
She said more sex and consent education and gender sensitisation in schools and universities would make a difference, but society-wide changes are needed.
Baski said conversations about consent and sexual violence should not only come up after an incident, but should be ongoing.
“This is not just about one doctor, it is about the safety of women and humans in general.
“Recently the central government passed new criminal laws that [effectively don't apply to] rape of men, as if only women are raped.
“This is about the safety of men, women, marginalised people, LGBTIQ people, everyone…
“Let us make society a more sensitive place where everyone can exist comfortably and live as equal beings.”