Hundreds were out on the street on a rainy Sunday, braving the weather, demanding justice and answers from the government, in the aftermath of the rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
They walked from Princep Street to the Shyambazar crossing on Sunday. Most of them are former students of Calcutta Girls’ High School. There were former students of other schools, too.
The march was not just for demanding justice — it was also to ensure a safe and secure environment for people, said many participants in the walk.
“We are walking for ourselves. This is not being selfish but taking precautionary steps because none of us are safe in our state, at our workplace. So, we are not only walking for justice but for the government to know that its citizens, who elected them to power, are demanding answers,” said Poulumi Roy, who graduated from Calcutta Girls’ High School in 2011.
The three-hour march via College Street-Bidhan Sarani ended with a human chain at Shyambazar.
The arrest of Abhijit Mondal, the officer-in-charge of Tala police station by the CBI on Saturday, for allegedly tampering with evidence and misleading investigators during the probe into the rape and murder of the junior doctor, has raised their hopes for justice.
“It shows that there has been some movement. Justice takes time and we should not expect it to be delivered quickly,” said Angana Dutta, of the 2001 batch.
While it was an ex-students’ rally, the present principal of Calcutta Girls’ High School, joined too.
“Many of our girls travel on their own, sometimes late in the evening, for tuition and they should be safe. Parents should not feel insecure about their safety,” said principal Basanti Biswas.
Echoing the fears was Sourav Mukherjee, whose daughter is a Class VIII student at the school. He said the protest was necessary to fight not just against one rape but against patriarchy and a system that tried to subjugate women.
“I believe whether it is the father of a daughter or a father of a son, everyone should walk for a society that doesn’t treat one gender as superior to another,” he said.
For a leg of the rally, the former Calcutta Girls’ students were joined by ex-students from Bethune Collegiate School and St Paul’s Mission School, one of the organisers said.