Case closed but no sense of closure for us: Reclaim Night protesters
Times of India | 21 January 2025
12 Kolkata: Thousands of protesters, who had taken to streets after the RG Kar crime, said they would not get a closure till the other perpetrators were brought to justice.
"We expect the judiciary to keep this case under active supervision to identify every single culprit responsible for the heinous crime. Legal intervention is an important side of redress but not enough. We also need actionable social change, along with policy-level changes, and that is a long-term struggle," Rimjhim Sinha, the first one who had called for the ‘Reclaim the Night' movement on Aug 14 last year. Echoing her, Satabdi Das of ‘Reclaim the Night United' said Sanjay Roy's conviction did not provide them with a sense of closure. "We always insisted on the certainty of punishment rather than severity of punishment. Life imprisonment is a stringent punishment for Sanjoy Roy, who committed a crime with such unparalleled brutality. But this does not fulfil our demands for justice. The other co-conspirators should be punished. Otherwise, every woman, every person from the trans and queer community will suffer from a kind of insecurity," she said.
Private tutor and Howrah resident Madhurima Dolui, who had taken part in any kind of protest for the first time on the night of Aug 14, said many questions remained unanswered. "I don't support capital punishment but I feel Roy is not the only culprit here. Several questions remain unanswered and our agitation will continue," Dolui said.
Parenting consultant Payel Ghosh expressed disappointment at the verdict: "Pronouncing life imprisonment only for Roy is an incomplete task. The others should also be brought to justice."
According to Gargy Roy of Jadavpur Puratani o Sanghati, it is unfortunate that after months of protests, the court only convicted Roy and the other perpetrators were not made accountable for their deeds. "It is shocking that the court did not find the rape and murder of a doctor at her workplace to be rarest of rare crimes. But our movement will not stop till all the perpetrators are found guilty and punished," Roy added. Paushali Bhattacharjee of No More Silence, Baguiati, too, said they were not happy with the manner in which the probe was conducted. "I am sure such a horrific crime can't be performed by a single person. So until others are brought to justice, we will not get a closure," Bhattacharjee shared.
Dhritiman Sengupta of Abhaya Mancha said, "Roy is obviously one of the culprits and he was given stringent punishment. But we are concerned about the other perpetrators and their punishment. We are angry and disappointed. Our fight will continue on the streets as well as in court until other culprits are unmasked."