Indian diaspora protests over Kolkata doctor’s rape, murder – from Singapore to Sweden

Protests against the August 9 killing started in Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Singapore, before spreading to cities in Europe and the US

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Members of the Indian diaspora in Stockholm, Sweden, gather on Sunday to protest against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata last month. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:53pm, 9 Sep 2024Updated: 2:30pm, 9 Sep 2024

Thousands of diaspora Indians protested in more than 130 cities across 25 countries on Sunday, organisers said, to demand justice after last month’s rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a hospital in the city of Kolkata.

The protests started in large and small groups across Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Singapore, before spreading to cities in Europe and the United States.

They added to ongoing nationwide protests in India after the August 9 killing of the 31-year-old postgraduate student of chest medicine. A suspect has been arrested along with the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College where the victim was studying.

“The news of this heinous crime committed on a young trainee doctor while on duty numbed and shocked each of us at the sheer ruthlessness, brutality and disregard of human life,” said Dipti Jain, an organiser of the global protests.

The doctor had retired to sleep on a piece of carpet in a seminar room after a marathon 36-hour shift, given the lack of dorms or resting rooms. She was later found bleeding from her eyes and mouth, with injuries to her legs, stomach, ankles, her right hand and finger, according to a doctor’s inquest report.

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‘I hope he gets the harshest punishment’: father of murdered Indian doctor demands justice

Hundreds of protesters gathered in several cities in the San Francisco Bay Area, demanding accountability for the crime and safety for Indian women.