Justice is being delayed and it’s disappointing that the CBI has formally named only one accused in the three months since the RG Kar rape and murder, many among the thousands who participated in a march from College Square to Esplanade said on Saturday.

All of them insisted that the brutality on the junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 could not have been inflicted by just one person.

Taking to the streets is important to keep up the pressure on the investigators and the judiciary for a fast probe and a fair trial, they said.

“Only one person has been arrested so far. We still believe this crime could not have been committed by a single person. We are here to keep up the pressure on the CBI. We also want the courts to conduct a fair and speedy trial,” said Trinesh Mondal, a junior doctor and rally participant.

“We want people to know that the junior doctors’ cease-work and hunger strike may have ended, but we are still in the quest for justice for Abhaya. The protests will not end until justice is done,” said Parichay Panda, a junior doctor at the Vivekananda Institute of Medical Sciences, Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan.

A sea of people joined the march, called by the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front.

Former Supreme Court judge Asok Ganguly was among the speakers at a meeting on Rani Rashmoni Avenue where the march culminated. He criticised the apex court’s handling of the case.

“I unequivocally criticise the role of the Supreme Court in this matter. Just when Calcutta High Court tried to speed up the probe by handing it over to the CBI, the Supreme Court took the matter up suo motu and delayed the process,” he said.

“No one had approached the Supreme Court, but it took the case up on its own,” he emphasised, ruing that the country’s topmost court had sent the case “to the
cold storage”.

When the head of the procession crossed Metro Cinema at Esplanade, its tail was still north of Chandni Chowk, almost a kilometre away.

Ordinary people outnumbered the doctors at the march. “This is truly a people’s march,” a participant said.

The air resounded with by-now-familiar slogans such as “Ar koto shomoy chai/ Jawab dao, CBI (Tell us CBI/ How much more time you need)” and “Tilottoma bhebo na/ Setting hote debo na (Don’t worry Tilottoma/ We won’t allow any deals)”.

The march began at 3.30pm and wound its way through MG Road and CR Avenue to reach Esplanade around 6pm. Many of the marchers then walked over to Rani Rashmoni Avenue, the venue for protests organised by an association of senior doctors.

Among the familiar faces at Saturday’s march were Snigdha Hazra, Pulasta Acharya, Debashis Halder, Anustup Mukherjee and Panda — junior doctors who had participated in the hunger strike at Esplanade last month.

Some others, equally recognisable, were missing. “The third-year (postgraduate) trainees have their final examinations in December, which is why many of them have skipped today’s programme,” a senior doctor said.

Ordinary citizens made up for their absence.Sarifa Khatun, 28, had arrived in the city with her seven-year-old daughter from West Midnapore on Saturdaymorning.

“No one is safe. I want my daughter to know about the protests and what happened. I want a safer place for my daughter,” she said.

Reshmi Roy Chowdhury, 55, who lives in Chicago and is in Calcutta on vacation, was part of the rally.

“It’s horrific that this happened in a workplace. Ourown workplaces are not safe. This is not a city or local matter but a global issue,” she said.

The junior doctors had begun their cease-work immediately after the August 9 atrocity. Their 42-day cease-work was withdrawn on September 21, but a group of junior doctors staged a hunger strike at Esplanade from October 5 to 21.

On Saturday, an exhibition of pictures of the various protests by junior doctors since August 9 was held near the main entrance to RG KarHospital. A blood donation camp too was conducted on the compound.