Kolkata experienced a unique and powerful display of civic solidarity when residents turned off their lights for an hour from 9 pm on Wednesday and came down to the streets with burning candles to protest the murder of the doctor at RG Kar hospital and to express support for the deceased doctor's family.
Significant pockets across districts of West Bengal also witnessed spontaneous protests from citizens hitting roads late in the evening with burning torches, candles and even backlit mobile phones demanding justice for the RG Kar hospital victim.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front, which had called for the protest, titled the event 'Let There Be Light, Let There Be Justice' had planned it to coincide with the Supreme Court's scheduled hearing in the rape-murder case on September 5.
The protesters demanded that the case, which is currently being heard by an apex court bench, be resolved expeditiously so that justice doesn't get delayed any further.
At 9 pm sharp, prominent landmarks such as the Victoria Memorial and Raj Bhavan, along with many homes across the city, its suburbs and districts, plunged into darkness as part of the protest.
Governor CV Ananda Bose also lit a candle at the Raj Bhavan and said, "When light is fear, darkness is dear." Large crowds gathered across the city, Howrah, and Salt Lake, taking to the streets with candles and mobile phone torches, chanting "We want justice" and demanding accountability for the alleged gruesome rape-murder of the trainee doctor.
In Kolkata, protests were held in prominent landmarks including Shyambazar five-point crossing, Moulali, New Town Biswa Bangla Gate, Rashbehari crossing, Behala, Garia, Ballygunge, Hazra crossing and Jadavpur 8B bus stand.
Doctors, both junior and seniors, held a protest at the epicentre - RG Kar Medical College and Hospital - where the victim's parents and her extended family members were also present.
Addressing the media from the hospital premises, the victim’s relatives levelled serious charges of the Kolkata Police’s "hyper-activity in cremation of the victim’s body and insensitive treatment towards family members" post the discovery of the crime on August 9.
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