Women's demonstrations broke out on India's Independence Day

An "unprecedented" women's demonstration broke out on India's Independence Day, mainly triggered by the brutal rape and murder of an intern female doctor in a hospital.

On the morning of August 9, the body of a 31-year-old female intern doctor was found in a seminar room of a public hospital in Kolkata, India. The autopsy report showed that she had been brutally beaten and sexually assaulted before her death. The case quickly ignited the wrath of the Indian public, and the wave of protests spread and escalated from Kolkata to the entire country.

From the evening of August 14 to the early morning of August 15 local time, as India's Independence Day arrived, tens of thousands of women in West Bengal, where the incident hospital is located, took to the streets and held a "Reclaim the Night" march, bringing the protest to a climax. Reports said that this is not the first time India has held a "Reclaim the Night" march, but the one in Kolkata is by far the largest.

In Kolkata, women participated in the march firmly. They held protest placards, and their faces were illuminated by the light of mobile phones, candles and burning torches. Some held the Indian flag, and men also joined in. The demonstrators held hands, stood united, and shouted slogans such as "We want justice". As time reached the early morning of India's 77th Independence Day (August 15), people spontaneously sang the Indian national anthem in the rain.

The march organizers said that choosing Independence Day was to raise the question: When will women gain independence. Indian Prime Minister Modi said on the 15th that he felt the anger of the people, and Indians should "seriously think about the atrocities against mothers, sisters and daughters", but he did not directly mention this rape and murder incident.

Despite the overall calmness of the protest, during the period, the police clashed with a small group of unidentified men who broke into RG Kar Hospital and ransacked the emergency room. The police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, and some police cars were damaged.

The large-scale demonstrations by Indian women reflect their strong concern and dissatisfaction with their own safety issues, as well as their deep concerns about the current social situation. They hope to push the government and society to take more powerful measures to protect women's rights and safety. India has long had problems of sexual violence against women. According to official data, nearly 90 rape cases occurred on average every day in India in 2022. Similar incidents of sexual violence have triggered protests many times.