Rape, murder, rage and disorder: Mamata Banerjee struggles to deal with the fallout of a horrific crime

Students of her college and doctors in different parts of the country have been holding protests to seek justice for the victim

If Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress (TMC) is continuing to win elections, it is mainly because of the support of women, who have benefited from women-centric welfare schemes. But, the outpouring of anger and outrage today in West Bengal and more so in Kolkata, following the gruesome rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor, is coming from this very same support base. And the reputation of Kolkata, considered a city safe for women, has taken a beating in the process.

In fact, in the just concluded Lok Sabha election, TMC's vote share increased largely because of women's support for the welfare schemes, especially the Lakshmir Bandar that provided women in the age group between 25-60 a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000-1,200. The vote share from Bengal women alone increased by 10.6%. Though Mamata received much support from the women citizens, she now stands accused of failure to protect them from violence.

She seems to have alienated the women force that stood behind her, both through her words and actions following the incident that happened in the wee hours of August 9 at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, run by the state. The 'Reclaim the Night' call on the intervening night of 78th Independence Day was a peaceful and yet a strong protest in Bengal led by women. The outrage against her government, which has spread to other parts of the country leading to a strike by medical professionals all over the country on August 17, is something that was never witnessed before and her government is truly on the defensive this time.

Being a woman Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee's reaction to high profile rapes earlier have been rather unbelievable, as she always weighs them through a political prism. In 2012, five men gangraped a woman they met in a nightclub. When the woman spoke out in the open about the incident and lack of security and police action, Mamata only victim-shamed and dismissed the rape as 'staged incident'. The following year, in Kamduni village in North 24-Parganas a 20-year old college student was abducted, raped by eight men, her legs were torn apart till her navel and her throat slit and her body dumped in a field. Police botched up the case leading to the accused being let off with light punishment. When protests rose up against Mamata government on lapses, she termed the protesters 'Maoists'.

In fact, it was last year that the Kamduni case accused's punishment was commuted. Anger was already building up. This time too, Mamata Banerjee's handling of RG Kar rape and murder has come as a shock to the citizens and galvanised public despair into a revolt. Mamata, incidentally holds the Home and Health portfolios.

Her tried and tested strategy against allegations of lapses against her government is to politicise the attacks on her government. It worked in Sandeshkhali where the BJP cynically tried to take political advantage of the assault on a woman by fielding the victim as a candidate in the Lok Sabha election.

This time, however, the anger is widespread and pouring out onto the streets. Mamata did try to blame the opposition, saying Baam and Ram, referring to the Left and the BJP, of trying to destabilise her government.

But her administration's handling of the case left her open to attacks from all sides. First the police registered a case of unnatural death and did not rule out suicide. They delayed informing the parents of the trainee doctor about the death. The then college principal Dr Sandip Kumar Ghosh, while speaking to the media, revealed the trainee doctor’s name and blamed her for going alone to the seminar hall at that part of the night to rest. Dr Ghosh resigned but the government appointed him as principal of National Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, instead of suspending him. The college started renovation in the building housing the seminar hall where the incident took place and this was seen as an attempt to destroy evidence. On the night of August 14 when women called for a night march of 'Reclaim the Night', some unknown miscreants vandalised the RG Kar Hospital, which again was seen as an attempt to intimidate witnesses and destroy evidence. The Calcutta High Court, on a plea from the victim's parents, immediately handed over the case to CBI.

This time too, Mamata went into the defensive mode claiming that 'Baam and Ram' (Left and BJP) united to oust her government as it happened in neighbouring Bangladesh. She herself took out a march demanding the death penalty for the accused. Two TMC MPs came out defending her stance: Rajya Sabha MP Derek O' Brien said that CBI take over of the case "should not lead to burial" of the case and which was why Mamata took out a rally. Lok Sabha MP Mohua Moitra tried to dismiss 'propaganda' that Mamata government was trying to cover up. But, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said he would stand with the protesters against cruelty to women as he was also concerned about the safety of his daughter and granddaughter.

Amid all these, one civic police volunteer Sanjoy Roy was arrested as the accused by the police based on CCTV footage. But, medical reports based on the injuries on the body, there has been suggestions that there could be more culprits involved.

In a survey done in 2022, a report of which came out this year, Kolkata was declared the safest city for women in India. But what happened at RG Kar and the government's handling of rape cases, makes this out as a myth, as women feel threatened and unsafe.