Man charged with rape, murder of doctor that sparked protests

Indian police have charged a man with the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor, sparking large-scale protests across the country.

Protests erupted in West Bengal in August demanding justice after the doctor’s body was found with multiple injuries in a conference room at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. Authorities at the time said the woman had gone to the conference room to rest during her night shift when she was attacked.

An autopsy confirmed the doctor had been assaulted and sexually assaulted before he died. This also suggests that she resisted and may have been tortured before being murdered.

In a nationwide protest that lasted weeks, doctors at public hospitals across India turned away all patients except those in emergency rooms as they demanded safe workplaces and swift legal action.

“Our indefinite work stoppage and sit-in will continue until our demands are met,” promised Dr. Aniket Mahata, spokesperson for the striking young doctors at the RG Kar establishment in August. .

Calcutta police arrested a volunteer member of the force the day after the murder. On Monday, Sanjoy Roy was formally charged in a confidential evidence document submitted to the court.

“Sanjoy Roy has been accused of raping and murdering the junior doctor on duty inside the hospital,” a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official told AFP.

Roy, widely reported by Indian media to be 33 years old and who worked as a volunteer at the hospital treating patients, would potentially face the death penalty if convicted.

In addition to doctors, tens of thousands of simple Indians joined the protests, which focused anger on the lack of measures allowing female doctors to work without fear.

While most doctors have returned to work, a small group began a hunger strike this month. Doctors say the West Bengal state government has failed to deliver on promises to improve lighting, security cameras and other measures to protect them.

India’s Supreme Court last month ordered a national task force to examine ways to strengthen the safety of healthcare workers, saying the brutality of the killing had “shocked the conscience of the nation.”

In West Bengal last month, the the state assembly passed a law it would raise the penalty for rape from the current sentence of at least 10 years to life imprisonment or execution.

The law is largely symbolic because the Indian Penal Code applies uniformly nationwide. However, presidential approval could make an exception and see this become state law.

The horrific nature of the attack drew comparisons to the gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus in 2012, which also sparked weeks of nationwide protests.

India reported an average of nearly 90 rapes per day in 2022, according to the most recent data from the National Crime Records Bureau, although experts say the real number could be much higher because many rapes are not reported due to stigma surrounding sexual violence and a lack of confidence in police investigations. Conviction rates remain low.

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