Several women’s groups and their allies have demanded fair probes into multiple cases of rape in India that have emerged recently, and alleged systemic failure of governments to curb the atrocity.

In a statement endorsed by 35 organisations and 845 individuals, they said: “Within days of the Kolkata rape and murder, several gruesome cases of sexual violence have been reported from Uttarakhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh…. Far from being concerned about prevention of such crimes, governments at the state and the Union are resorting to rhetoric — wanting to treat ‘rapists as terrorists’ or seeking the death penalty without stopping to consider that the rapists at RG Kar weren’t deterred by the hanging of the four men held guilty for the rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in 2012, or the hanging of Dhananjay Chatterji in 2004.”

The statement signed by Left, minority and Dalit women’s groups, and trade unions slammed the Bengal government, but also called for the CBI, which is probing the RG Kar case, to be unbiased.

It says: “We condemn the actions and inactions of the West Bengal government led by Mamta Banerjee for trying to obfuscate the issue as a suicide case and a political conspiracy, ‘transferring’ Sandip Ghosh, principal of the RG Kar hospital, as principal of the Calcutta National Medical College Hospital, and only rescinding the order under great public pressure. It also had the temerity to transfer 43 doctors and professors, including some from the RG Kar hospital, in the middle of nationwide protests by healthcare professionals!”

They added: “We urge the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) now investigating the Kolkata case to rise above political interests and conduct a fair and unbiased investigation. However, we recognise that the demand for fair trial and implementation of the law is even more challenging in these times when the Union government, while making claims of making more stringent laws to ‘protect’ women, systematically releases and even felicitates those held guilty of gang rape and multiple murders....”

The activists said: “Laws framed to protect women — in their homes, on the streets, in their workplaces — are flouted with impunity…. It is the state — whether at the Centre or in the states — that creates an enabling climate for sexual violence and ensures that abusers go free.”

They added: “Installing CCTV cameras or calling for the death penalty does not enhance safety or counter systemic impunity. Concealing the facts, silencing whistle-blowers and crushing those who call for justice as we have seen in case after case — these can bring neither safety nor justice.”