On August 9th, 2024, a post-graduate trainee doctor (India’s term for a medical resident or fellow) was found dead, semi-nude, in a seminar room of Kolkata’s state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The medical examination revealed the victim was sexually assaulted and murdered. No FIR (First Information Report, a police complaint) was filed for 14 hours.
Since that time, protests have raged in cities across India to change the country’s culture, doctors have gone on strike (except for medical emergencies) to demand better hospital security, a civilian volunteer has been arrested and charged with the crime, and the head of the hospital and a police officer have been arrested over accusations of negligence and tampering with evidence. Here is a timeline of these events.
I am so heartened to see so many people across India and in Indian communities around the world, including in the US and Canada, making their voices heard in a global demand for change. I felt condescending to “weigh in” in the immediate aftermath as though anyone cares what I think as an American man, but I have been watching the events unfold with deep interest, and I’m buoyed that so many across the globe aren’t reading this gruesome story in the paper, then shrugging it off and clicking past it to check their daily horoscope.
Here is an excellent piece written by my Kolkata colleague, filmmaker and journalist Debarati Gupta, about a group of Kolkata theatre artists’ recent response to the tragedy.
This horrific, infuriating societal curse and the unspeakable crimes it yields aren’t unique to India. Something similar is going on in France where protests have raged in 30 cities after a husband paid men to sexually assault his wife repeatedly over the course of a decade.
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In Kenya, Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei was burned to death by her boyfriend, the latest in a string of similar cases there.
What can you do? After standing speechless, aghast and powerless at first, one thing you can do is take a lead from these inspiring ordinary citizens around the world and, at the very least, talk about it to those around you. Make your feelings known to your family, friends and colleagues.
