KOLKATA: Parents of the RG Kar Hospital junior doctor raped and killed last month joined protesters at the hospital late Wednesday.
They walked into the RG Kar Medical College & Hospital at 9.25 pm on Wednesday, lent their voice to Tagore’s ‘Aguner poroshmoni’ and lit candles along with their daughter’s colleagues and friends to demand for justice. The last time the RG Kar rape-murder victim’s parents had been to RG Kar was on Aug 9, when after a seven-hour wait, they had followed the hearse to the crematorium.”I wish to see all the culprits lose sleep, as I have lost mine,” the mother said on Wednesday, as the family huddled together on the campus where they lost their daughter.
The victim’s parents, her uncle, aunts and two cousin brothers reached RG Kar left at 10:18 pm, referring to the protesting doctors “as their own family who stood by us in our grief”. The pain and anger were evident when they spoke to reporters. “We reached the hospital (on Aug 9) at 12:10 pm. We left at 7 pm. We wanted to preserve the body, but it was cremated,” the father alleged. “What was the hurry to cremate her? When we went to the crematorium, we found the payment for her last rites was already done,” he added.
An aunt alleged, “They had almost hijacked her (the victim’s) parents to the principal’s room and made them wait. When we reached the crematorium, we saw 300-400 police there. When we were shattered, we were offered money. What was the hurry (to cremate her)?” Her cousin added: “This year, we had no Rakhi. We want all culprits to be brought to justice. And till it is done, we will keep fighting.”
Inside RG Kar hospital, the lights were put out and candles lit at 9 pm. Among those who thronged the hospital were parents of junior doctors. Sodepur couple Soma Das and Pinaki Das, parents of a PGT final-year student, came to R G Kar at 8 pm to participate in the protest. “My son got a chance to study in AIIMS Delhi but he chose to study in Kolkata. On Aug 14 night, he barely survived the vandalism. I had always stood by them (the protestors). I will come again,” Soma said.
Wednesday’s protests in RG Kar, where the agitating junior doctors have been agitating since Aug 9, was planned only hours before the Supreme Court’s scheduled Sep 5 hearing. The hearing was rescheduled. Sourav Roy, a protesting junior doctor, said: “This is frustrating that the Supreme Court has deferred hearing. But this will not affect our movement. We were on the street and will be on the street till all the demands are fulfilled. We have no choice but to trust the judiciary.”
Swagafta Yasmin, another protesting doctor, said: “Today’s mass protest was planned to keep an eye on Thursday’s Supreme Court hearing. Somebody rightly said that justice delayed is justice denied, the ‘tarikh pe tarikh’ nature of our judiciary is delaying court proceedings.” Soumyodip Roy, another protesting doctor, said: “This will not affect our movement because we are fighting for justice. If we could run this protest for the last 27 days, we can continue it further.”