Bengali Community Protests Brutal Rape & Murder at R.G. Kar Hospital
Photos by Nirmalya Roy
By Partha Sarathi Chatterjee
HOUSTON: Bengali community of Houston, including members of Houston Durgabari Society and Tagore Society of Houston, came out in force to protest the brutal rape and murder of a young medical intern. The fact that an educated working woman, doing her duty at a hospital, who was standing up to corruption, was raped and murdered pointed not only to a horrible pervert but also a complete systematic failure at medical institution. Community has been following the news as Bengal is close to or heart and is appalled at the lawlessness and corruption. Victim happened to be a woman, but it could have been a man too in this case.
Rituparna Roy, seeing the protests in Bengal, thought of having the rally at Durgabari, where Ma Durga’s Shakti reigns. The rally attracted energy executives, doctors, professors, teachers, IT professionals and engineers, homemakers and most importantly, second generation Indian Americans.
Demand is to find all the guilty and hand out the toughest punishment and root out corruption and fix the process. Make Bengal safe and secure.
Sayoni Bhattacharya, mother and IT professional, opined “The recent horrific incident at a government institution – R.G. Kar Medical College has shattered my trust in government as it reflects a severe lapse in security, oversight, accountability from the government and when that trust is broken, as a Bengali living abroad, it deeply pains me to admit that, out of fear, sadness, and shame, I no longer will feel safe in my own city.”
Mondakini Chatterjee, soon to be a mother of a girl child, commented, “The recent tragedy at R.G. Kar Hospital has shaken us all. Even after Nirbhaya incident, I had to see this where I was born and brought up, my Kolkata , a place which I was proud of. My heart cries out for the parents who just lost their child, couldn’t imagine the horrific experience that doctor had to go through who was not safe in her own workplace. I started working in IT since 2014 from Kolkata itself and I did night shifts for couple of years before moving abroad. And I hope this serves as a wake-up call for necessary reforms. It’s a shame that my own city cannot provide me safety anymore.”
Protests to find all the gui.lty, destroy the nexus and provide security to women will continue. There is a vigil planned “Justice for Abhaya” on Sunday, August 25th at Sugarland Town Square. More details will be shared on social media