RG Kar: Cry for justice rattles Kolkata's Sunday afternoon as women march to demand rape-free society

The mammoth rally, which wandered from College Square in north Kolkata to downtown Dharmatala, is one where common people, mostly women and young girls, walked shoulder to shoulder with celebrities, raising a one-point slogan- "We Want Justice"- even as the federal investigating agency CBI probes the gruesome crime that triggered a nationwide protest like the fatal New Delhi bus rape of a paramedic in 2012.

Ratna Adhikari Bose, Riyanshi's mother, couldn't hold back her worry for her daughter, who says the RG Kar case is the only issue being discussed from dining space to bedroom at her place.

"I took her along with me so that she could realise the kind  of society we are currently living in," says Ratna and adds in the same breath, "As a mother, I am very worried. How will I be unworried about my daughter's future? I am not educating my daughter for her to be confined at home. So she will have to be strong from this moment on."

"I have hit the streets hoping for better days in future," she added.

For the uninformed, Kolkata, its neighbouring districts have been witnessing relentless, unprecedented protests after a post-graduate medical student was raped and murdered at her workplace on the intervening night of August 8 and 9.

Though the police swiftly nabbed a civic volunteer- named Sanjoy Roy- with the rape and murder charges, junior doctors, who are on an indefinite strike, suspect the crime was committed by more than one and an attempt to tamper with evidence and cover up the incident to protect its perpetrators or conspirators is at play right from the beginning.

"I think this 'Maha Michil' has been able to send out a clear message. I hope the real culprits are found out and arrested. We have to free our state and society from these kinds of mafia-raj and rape culture," says an elderly lady, named Anuradha Mahapatra, who was walking in the rally with almost equal vigour as that of the minor, Riyanshi.

"I feel there should be an end to the atrocities women are facing in our country. This situation needs to be changed," says the woman who came all the way from Garia, an eastern part of the city, to downtown Kolkata.

The Mamata Banerjee government, despite winning an overwhelming number of parliamentary seats in the General Elections just a couple of months ago, is now in a deep crisis as people's protests roil the state challenging the state administration, which was marred by political violence and rampant corruption cases for more than a decade now.

The administration's swift run for the last rites of the victim and demolition work near the crime scene have raised some uncomfortable questions for the state administration, which is helmed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who also holds both the police and health portfolios. Clamour for her resignation also grew louder.

In a departure from its previous rallies, including the night vigil on August 14, justice was demanded also from the CBI which has been on the case for nearly three weeks now.

Priyanka Chatterjee- a middle-aged lady- pointed her fingers on the CBI too as she walked past the Bowbazar area this evening.

"We are waiting for the results by CBI on September 5 (the next hearing date) but what we are scared of is that the probe agency will claim there was only one rapist and murderer. But the system has raped and killed the girl. We want to know about the syndicate which was going on in that hospital against which our daughter had spoken.

"Is it sex racket or drug racket or organ racket, what was going on? CBI must shed its light on that," says Priyanka pausing her sloganeering at the rally, which saw the presence of film personalities like Aparna Sen, Swastika Mukherjee, Srijit Mukherji among others.

(Images by Avishek Mitra/IBNS)