'Shaken, head hung in shame over what happened in West Bengal': Bengali diaspora in Canada demand justice for RG Kar victim

Several members of the Bengali diaspora gathered at Masseygrove Park in the west end of Toronto and protested against the incident.

The agitators alleged that the West Bengal Government has shown “complete disregard and support against the barbarity towards women and vulnerables.”

On Wednesday night, the women in Kolkata and across the country had organised a vigil titled "Women, Reclaim the Night".

The 31-year-old trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered at the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which is located in North Kolkata's Belgachia area.

Her body was last Friday and an autopsy report, which had put the time of death between 3 and 5 am, revealed that several injuries were inflicted on her before she was smothered to death.

One person, a civic volunteer, has been arrested in connection with the case but protesting students suspect more people are involved in the case.

An alumnus of RG Kar Medical College, who participated in the protest, expressed shock and horror over the incident. “As an alumnus of RG Kar, I hang my head in shame over what has happened there. The outrage I feel is beyond words. If I had been in Kolkata, I would have considered sending my daughters to medical school, but now I’m forced to question if I could. The torture she endured before her death was inhuman and unimaginable. Even animals are better. The police have arrested one man, but he is a scapegoat. The real perpetrators are still at large.”

One of the protest organisers, Tanusree Dasgpta, who is the CEO & Founder at TD Global Migration Canada Corp., said a large number of people from the Bengali diaspora gathered within just a few hours of notice, without any prior planning. “Do you know why so many people responded to the call today? Because what is happening in our home state of West Bengal is shaking all of us to the core. The incident at R.G. Kar seems to have crossed all limits of tolerance. That's why, regardless of gender, this has created a wave not just in India, but across the world. Today's protest is not just for women, but against all the moral degradation in society.”

The parents of the trainee doctor told the Calcutta High Court that forensic reports revealed 150 mg of semen was found in her body, clearly indicating that she had been gang-raped.

"No step taken to arrest any other offenders while the evidence clearly indicates that their daughter was the victim of a gang rape and murder, a crime that could not have been committed by one person alone," the parents' petition said.