Protests escalate in India over rape and murder of doctor

In Pictures

Thousands of women and men marched across several Indian cities as protests against the rape and murder of a doctor escalated.

Holding candles and posters that read “reclaim the night”, they held rallies in several cities, including Kolkata in eastern India, where the body of the trainee doctor was found last week, also triggering protests by fellow medics demanding better and safer working conditions.

Many government hospitals in cities across India suspended all services except emergency departments earlier this week, as junior doctors sat outside in protest, demanding justice for the victim.

The 31-year-old doctor was found dead on Friday. Police said she had been raped and murdered and one person was subsequently arrested in connection with the crime.

“As a society, we have to think about the atrocities being committed against our mothers, daughters and sisters. There is outrage against this in the country. I can feel this outrage,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday in an address to the nation on Independence Day but did not specifically refer to the Kolkata case.

Crimes against women in India rose 4 percent in 2022 from the previous year, data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), released late last year, showed.