India: Protests demand justice after rape and murder of nurse, Modi calls for 'severe' and 'swift' punishments

Thousands of people demonstrated early Thursday morning in Kolkata, India, to denounce the rape and murder of a health worker, a case that shocked the country, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for tougher punishment for violence against women.

The crowd, mostly made up of women, held up signs reading “We want justice” and “Hang the rapist, save the women,” according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

About forty protesters stormed the hospital grounds where the murder took place, attacking police who responded with tear gas.

– “monstrous behavior” –

“Crimes against women should be promptly investigated, monstrous behavior against women should be severely and quickly punished,” Mr. Modi said from New Delhi on Thursday morning during the celebration of the Independence Day and without explicitly referring to the Calcutta murder.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers a speech on the occasion of the country's Independence Day, in New Delhi, on August 15, 2024 © AFP – Sajjad HUSSAIN

The body of the victim, a 31-year-old woman, was found with multiple injuries on Friday in a government hospital in the capital of West Bengal where she worked. An autopsy confirmed rape and homicide.

In a petition to the court, the young woman's parents said they suspected that their daughter was the victim of gang rape, according to Indian channel NDTV.

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A man who worked at the same hospital as the victim, helping patients in the queues, was arrested but the police were accused of mishandling the case.

– Public pressure –

Indian media reported that the murdered caregiver was found in the seminar room of the teaching hospital, suggesting that she had gone there to briefly rest.

< p>The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a federal agency, in order to “inspire public confidence”.

< p>On Monday, doctors working in public hospitals in different Indian states stopped non-urgent care for an “indefinite” period, demanding greater safety at their workplace.

Health workers and protesters gather in Kolkata, India, on August 14, 2024, to commemorate a female health worker who was raped and murdered © AFP – DIBYANGSHU SARKAR

“Doctors across the country are wondering what is so difficult about enacting a law for our safety,” Dhruv Chauhan of the Indian Medical Association's Young Doctors Network told the Press Trust of India.

“The strike will continue until all demands are officially met,” he said.

Sexual violence against women is widespread in India, with an average of nearly 90 rapes per day reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion of inhabitants.

The murder and rape of a young woman on a New Delhi bus in 2012 sparked huge, sometimes violent protests.

Under public pressure, the government enacted harsher sentences for rapists, and even the death penalty for repeat offenders.

Several new sexual offences were also introduced, including harassment and prison sentences for civil servants who fail to register rape complaints.

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