A year has passed since a doctor was raped and murdered in R.G. Kar nursing home in West Bengal, Kolkata. As the whole country celebrated ‘Rakshabandhan’ on the very same day the incident happened a year ago, the victim’s parents are still visiting the State and Central Govt. turn by turn in search of justice.
Just a year prior, the horrific incident shook the whole nation; people around the globe took to the streets, raising systemic issues on women’s safety in the city of Kolkata. Fast forward to 2025, the victim’s parents are not satisfied, alleging “incomplete investigation”. According to the law, one person cannot commit this heinous crime. A civic volunteer named Sanjay Roy was convicted by the Sealdah Court and sentenced to life imprisonment till death. The judge excused the Death penalty because it was not a “rarest-of-rare” case, sparking huge controversy. On Saturday, 9 August, the victim’s parents called for a protest march in memory of their daughter. They alleged that they were stopped and beaten by the police near Park Street when they were marching towards the Bengal Secretariat. According to the victim’s father, they were stopped despite having court permission for the rally. Following their meeting with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and CBI Director Praveen Sood over the incompetence of the West Bengal Government in giving them justice.
Even after the R.G. Kar case, the crimes against women didn’t decline. A TMC student leader in the Union room of South Calcutta Law College raped a college student. In Pune, a girl was raped in her own house by a man pretending to be a delivery agent.
As brothers vowed to protect sisters on the very same day, in a difference of a year, the victim’s mother was quoted by PTI saying, “Why are they stopping us? We only want to reach the secretariat and seek justice for my daughter.” Thousands of women are molested and cat-called every day in India, and out of the many or two cases take the shape of R.G. Kar or Nirbhaya. As Durga Puja approaches in Bengal with Pandals fighting to make a women-related theme, the question arises, “What’s the need of worshipping a female deity when rape victims’ parents are lathi-charged by police for seeking justice?”