On Sunday, thousands of diaspora Indians staged protests in over 130 cities across 25 countries, demanding justice for a trainee doctor who was raped and murdered last month in Kolkata. Demonstrations began in countries like Japan, Australia, Taiwan, and Singapore, and spread to European and American cities.
The protests add to ongoing rallies in India following the August 9 killing of the 31-year-old postgraduate student. An arrest has been made, including that of the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College, where the victim was studying.
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Dipti Jain, an organizer of the global protests, expressed the collective shock and outrage over the brutal crime. The doctor was found in a seminar room after a 36-hour shift, severely injured.
Protesters in the San Francisco Bay Area and Dublin, California, formed human chains and held signs demanding justice and safety for Indian women. In Stockholm, activists gathered in Sergels Torg square, holding signs and singing Bengali songs.
Despite tougher laws introduced after the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, activists argue that the Kolkata incident highlights ongoing issues of sexual violence. India’s federal police are investigating, and the Supreme Court has set up a task force to improve hospital safety.
