After the R G Kar rape and murder case in August 2024, where a postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead in a seminar hall of the medical college, protests broke out across West Bengal. The state’s Chief Minister, on her first foreign tour since then, once again faced protests on her last day in London — Thursday.
At Oxford University’s Kellogg College, Banerjee’s speech was briefly disrupted after a group of protesters — students at the University — raised slogans over the R G Kar case. The victim’s father told The Indian Express that “this was bound to happen”.
“She (Banerjee) will have to face protests in every foreign soil she sets foot in. Not only this city or state, but other states and countries also protested, asking for justice for my daughter. Around 16 countries had kept in touch with me, showing support for my fight,” he said.
“Did she know that she would face a protest? She went prepared with pictures of herself covered in bandages,” the father said. During their protest, Banerjee had told the students, “I can see ultra Left and Left faces,” and displayed a picture of the injuries she sustained during the Left regime. To those raising the questions, she asked if they were “communal”.
The victim’s father also told The Indian Express that “even now, in the (Calcutta) High Court, the state is trying to stop us from getting justice but we will fight, if need be, we will snatch away justice. They (state administration) have been trying to delay everything. We were made to run pillar to post for more than six months for my daughter’s death certificate.”
Junior doctor Debasish Haldar, one of the faces of the R G Kar protests, told The Indian Express, “Anyone can protest, everyone has the right to. It was a huge protest all over the world… There were protests in London also . Since she had visited London, thus those who had previously protested, protested again in front of her and raised questions. Everyone had fought for the RG Kar victim.”
In August 2024, the 31-year-old junior doctor’s body was found in the seminar room of the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. A day after the crime, civic volunteer Sanjay Roy was arrested and charged with rape and murder. It took 59 days for the trial to complete after it began on November 11, 2024. The CBI took charge of the case on August 13, and the charges against the accused were framed on December 4. In January 2025, the lower court convicted civic volunteer Roy for the rape and murder, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.