R G Kar Case: Protests Across Bengal Mark a Year of Anger & Unanswered Questions

Last Thursday evening right up to Friday morning, the desire for change swept across West Bengal, as lakhs of people spontaneously took to the streets. Their cries of “We want justice, give justice” echoed alongside the wails of the parents of Abhaya, Tamanna, and Anis Khan. This was not just grief—it was the voice of millions, calling for an uncompromising fight for justice.

Kolkata and districts across the state witnessed all-night “Rat Dakhal” (Night Capture) demonstrations, marking the first anniversary of last year’s historic protest. This year, the rally not only demanded justice for Abhaya—a post-graduate medical student brutally raped and murdered in the seminar room of Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024—but also for the murder of 10-year-old Tamanna Khatun at Kaliganj in Nadia district and Anis Khan of Howrah.

Exactly a year ago, on the night before Independence Day, Bengal was engulfed in protests. People stayed up all night on the streets, demanding justice for Abhaya’s killing. Chants of “We want justice” rang out across the state.

It is alleged that during last year’s protests, known and unknown miscreants backed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) attacked various parts of the state. The R.G. Kar Hospital premises were vandalised, allegedly to destroy evidence in Abhaya’s murder. Junior doctors, Left-wing students, youth, and women protesting for justice were assaulted. Despite heavy police presence, the attackers were not stopped. “Those culprits are roaming free today,” said Utpal Banerjee, general secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors, West Bengal.

This year, on August 14, there were no such attacks. But has the administration accepted the demand for justice? Many believe the answer is no. In fact, the police administration has been accused of targeting protesters. Even Abhaya’s parents were not spared.

Police ‘Assault’ on Abhaya’s Parents?

On August 9, 2025, exactly one year after Abhaya’s murder, a rally was organised to march to Nabanna (the State Secretariat) demanding justice. Abhaya’s parents joined the procession, which was stopped by Kolkata Police at Park Street. Not only was the march halted, but her parents were allegedly beaten up, too.

Abhaya’s mother reportedly suffered injuries on her forehead, hands, and back, and was admitted to a nearby hospital. She underwent a CT scan and other diagnostic tests to assess both internal and external injuries, according to hospital officials. “Police pinned me to the ground, they broke my shankha and pola (traditional conch shell and red bangles of married women),” she alleged. She said that four to five police personnel assaulted her during the scuffle.

“The police couldn’t save my daughter or give her justice, but they didn’t think twice before beating women and elderly people,” she said from her hospital bed. “Why did they stop us? All we wanted was to reach Nabanna and seek justice for my daughter. They put up barricades to block us. Why are you so inhuman? Why are you scared of us? We are unarmed. I will not stop until I meet the Chief Minister to demand justice for my daughter,” she was quoted as saying.

Later that afternoon, the Abhaya Mancha called for a rally toward Kalighat. Police stopped the rally at Hazra More, where thousands gathered to demand justice.

Among the protesters was Sabina Yasmin, mother of 10-year-old Tamanna Khatun, who was killed in a crude bomb attack during a TMC victory rally following an Assembly bye-election at Kaliganj in Nadia district on June 23, 2025. “I also have not received justice, like Abhaya’s parents,” she said. She visited the hospital to meet Abhaya’s mother and promised to stand by her in the fight for justice.

Tamanna’s mother Sabina Yasmin speaking at the Shyambazar protest rally on August 14, demanding justice.

“We have no words to condemn this barbaric act of the police. A mother who lost her daughter was beaten until she bled! What a terrible situation in Bengal,” said Tamanas Choudhury, a doctor and prominent face of the Abhaya Mancha movement. “We will not stop until proper justice is delivered,” he added.

One Arrest, Many Questions

So far, only one person—Kolkata Police civic volunteer Sanjay Ray—has been arrested for the rape and murder of Abhaya. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe, but a year later, no one else has been charged. Many, including Abhaya’s parents, believe the crime could not have been committed by a single individual and that others with political links are being shielded.

Allegations have been made of clear “political collusion” between the ruling TMC in the state and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre. Notably, in August last year, Abhaya’s parents went to Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah, but were not granted an audience.

Several junior and senior doctors say a “threat culture” still persists. Promises made by the Chief Minister during discussions with agitating doctors last year have allegedly not been kept.

“Several doctors involved in the movement are being punitively transferred to far-off locations,” said Dr. Banerjee. Junior doctors’ leader Aniket Mahato claimed that many doctors were being summoned by police and harassed.

Despite the CBI’s silence and the alleged vindictive behaviour of the state government, the movement for justice has not stopped, as seen on the August 14 night.

A Mother’s Unending Pain

“I still cannot sleep at night,” Abhaya’s mother said. “When I try to sleep, one thought haunts me—on that night, when my daughter was being tortured, she called me, ‘Mother, Mother’, but I was asleep and didn’t hear her cries. That’s why I can’t sleep.”

Last Thursday night in Bankura, Manash Gumta, a doctor, told Newsclick, “The Chief Minister and government are trying to cover up the issue by making various statements. In this situation, more and more people are uniting to demand justice. We will not rest until all those responsible for Abhaya’s murder are given exemplary punishment.”

Another Tragic Death

On August 15 morning, Bengal woke to another shocking incident. The body of an on-duty nurse was recovered from a private nursing home in the Baroteliya area of Singur, Hooghly district, on Thursday. She was a resident of Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district. Her family was informed that she was found hanging.

The father of the deceased nurse rushed to Singur but said he was not allowed to see the body. He went to the Singur police station demanding the arrest of the nursing home’s owner, alleging that his daughter had been murdered. Police took the body to Sreerampur Sub-Divisional Hospital. On Friday morning, when the police tried to transfer the body to Kolkata for post-mortem, workers of the Left-backed Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) surrounded the ambulance in protest. The police forcibly moved the body to Kolkata.

Left students and youths protest on August 15 morning by holding back the  body of a nurse who died mysteriously in a nursing of Singur, Hooghly.

It is suspected that the administration is trying to conceal the facts—similar to the events of August 9, last year when police attempted to take away Abhaya’s body from R.G. Kar Hospital under controversial circumstances.

It was members of the SFI, DYFI and All-India Democratic Women’s Association which stopped Abhaya’s body from being “forcibly” taken away on August 9, 2024. That is why this brutal incident came to light. These Left-wing organisations declared that they would continue their fight demanding a full investigation into the “mysterious death” of the nurse in Singur.

(Pics by Madhu Sudan Chatterjee)

The writer works for ‘Ganashakti’ newspaper in West Bengal.