Enough is enough, says President Murmu on Kolkata rape, murder
This story was originally published at 20:29 IST on 28 August 2024
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NEW DELHI – President Droupadi Murmu today said she was “dismayed and horrified” when she learnt about the rape and murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Aug 9. “Even as students, doctors, and citizens were protesting in Kolkata, criminals remained on the prowl elsewhere. No civilised society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities. Enough is enough,” Murmu said.
The president’s remarks followed continuing protests against the junior doctor's rape and murder. She red-flagged the mind-set that sees a woman as a lesser human, less strong, less capable, less intelligent. People with such views see women as objects, Murmu said.
“It is this objectification of women by a few that is behind the crimes against women," Murmu said. "It is ingrained deeply in the minds of such people.” The president stressed the need for “honest and unbiased” introspection, and appealed to society to not let “collective amnesia” prevail over the memory of such criminality.
"This collective amnesia, I am afraid, is as obnoxious as that mindset I spoke of," Murmu said. "Societies scared to face history resort to collective amnesia to bury their heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich. Now the time has come not only to face history squarely but also to search within our souls and probe the pathology of crime against women.”
The president also referred to the horrific December 2012 gang-rape and murder in Delhi and similar other tragedies that have occurred since.
Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said an amendment to existing laws will be passed in the state assembly next week to provide for capital punishment for convicted rapists.
The 31-year-old doctor was found dead in a seminar hall at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Aug 9. Police arrested a civic volunteer. There have been protests and strikes by doctors in several cities across the country.
On Aug 13, the Calcutta High Court transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, saying there had been no significant progress in the West Bengal police's investigation.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the case, the Supreme Court on Aug 20 formed a 10-member national task force to make recommendations on the safety and working conditions of medical professionals. End
Reported by Kuldeep Singh
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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