Demand for Chief Minister's Resignation in East Kolkata
Police Respond with Tear Gas and Water Cannons
Protests are intensifying in response to the case of a trainee doctor at a national hospital in India who was sexually assaulted at the hospital and then murdered in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal in eastern India.
On the 27th (local time), according to local media, thousands of protesters, including university students, marched toward the state government building in the area, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing the authorities of mishandling the case.
In response, the police attempted to suppress the protests using tear gas, water cannons, and batons, while some protesters threw stones in resistance. According to major foreign news outlets, at least 100 people have been arrested on charges of inciting violence.
The ruling party in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Chief Minister Banerjee, claims that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is behind the protests. However, student groups insist that they organized the protests independently. The BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the federal level, is the opposition party in West Bengal.
The protests were triggered by an incident that occurred on the 9th. At a national hospital in Kolkata, a 31-year-old female trainee doctor was sexually assaulted and murdered in a seminar room within the hospital. Local police arrested one hospital staff member as a suspect, but the victim’s family has raised the possibility of gang rape. The fact that a national hospital doctor was sexually assaulted due to inadequate safety measures within the hospital has led to nationwide temporary strikes and protests by fellow trainee doctors and medical associations.
Local media reported that this case is similar to the gang rape and murder of a female university student on a city bus in New Delhi in December 2012. Although related laws have been strengthened since then, Indian women continue to suffer.
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