Hundreds of students, priests, nuns, patrons and former students of St Xavier’s College, Calcutta, held a solidarity rally demanding justice for the young doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last Thursday.

“Nyayer khide (Hunger for justice)” read a poster held aloft by Snigdha Mondal, a second-year student of multimedia sciences.

Another read: “All monsters are human.”

Several women who participated in the rally on Friday felt that “there was a need to react and raise our voices” at such an hour.

“We made these banners as we want people to read and understand why we had to hit the streets. Not only do we want justice and the highest form of punishment, but we also want to underscore that women’s safety must be ensured at all costs,” said a multimedia student who aspires to be a game developer.

Amid chants of “we want justice” several passersby joined the tail of the rally.

“What happened to one of our sisters at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has broken us both physically and emotionally. We must reflect on ourselves as a society and all of us must pray for the grief-stricken family,” Father Dominic Savio, principal of St Xavier’s College, Calcutta, said on the sidelines of the march.

Firdausal Hasan, secretary of St Xavier’s College Alumni Association, said the turnout for the walk showed how strongly the young felt about what happened.

“We gave out a call organically. The crime is heinous. Justice must be served and this was our way to show solidarity with the young doctor and her grieving family members,” said Hasan.

Actor Prasenjit Chatterjee, percussionist Bickram Ghosh, danseuse Jaya Seal Ghosh and actor-director Arindam Sil were among those who participated in the march.

“The system must be cleansed. It is an extremely unfortunate incident that has rocked the nation. This must have a proper conclusion,” Ghosh said.

Loreto College

The students of Loreto College Calcutta and Loreto House School, their teachers and alumni organised a silent rally on Friday morning.

The rally wound its way from the gates of the school in Middleton Row to Allen Park.

Amrita Dasgupta, an associate professor of the Bengali department at Loreto College, said the march was organised as they “could not be silent in the aftermath of something that shook not only the city but the world at large”.

“We had to be out. We had to react. The sheer cruelty has shaken us all as educators as well as human beings,” said Dasgupta.

Songs like Aguner Poroshmoni and notes from We Shall Overcome filled the air at Allen Park where the rally ended.

Tanushua Goswami a second-year psychology student, said they were joined by former teachers some of whom were in their eighties.

“It was drizzling but nobody complained. I was out on the streets on Thursday night as well and we must keep raising our voices till it gets heard,” said Goswami.