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Moumita Debnath (31) was the daughter of a very ordinary lower middle-class family from the Sodpur area of North Chabbis Pargana, a suburb near Kolkata. His father is a tailor by profession, and his mother is a homemaker. Despite financial and other obstacles, Moumita completed her medical studies and worked in various hospitals. Most recently, he was a postgraduate trainee in chest medicine at RG Kar Medical College Hospital. He was also doing post-graduation in medical science. He was very dedicated and dutiful in medical care. He was on regular duty on Thursday, August 8, 2024. After 36 consecutive hours of duty, he went to rest in the seminar hall on the fourth floor of the hospital's pulmonology department after having dinner with his colleagues that night. And taking this rest becomes tomorrow in Maumita's life. That night, a group of cannibals brutally killed her after raping her. The next morning, his junior colleagues found his half-naked, mutilated body lying inside the hall. Hospital authorities and police initially said that Moumita had committed suicide. Later, however, in the face of intense public outrage and anger, the police registered a case of murder and rape in this incident. Within twenty-four hours of the recovery of the young woman's body from the hospital's seminar hall, the police arrested a man named Sanjay Roy, who was employed as a 'civic volunteer' in the Kolkata city police force, on suspicion of being the main accused.

In the case of the murder and rape of the wage earner doctor Moumita, the whole of India became agitated with the protests of people of various classes and professions, including doctors. Lakhs of people remembered the doctor by lighting candles and lamps at their respective locations across the state. Lakhs of women in West Bengal participated in the 'Occupy Night' protest demanding 'the right to live an independent and fearless life'. More than 10 lakh doctors from different states of India announced the strike. The doctors who participated in the protest turned away everyone except the patients of the emergency department. As a result, India's healthcare sector is virtually paralyzed. Various political, social, and voluntary organizations held demonstrations and sit-in programs to protest the rape and murder. According to the news agency Reuters, there have also been demonstrations and protests in more than 130 cities in 25 countries around the world demanding justice for Moumita's rape and murder.

A doctor of forensic medicine at a medical college hospital in Kolkata said that it was clear from the nature of the crime and the multiple injuries that he had been tortured for a long time. An autopsy report released on Monday (August 19) said, “There were multiple injuries on her body; evidence of sexual assault was also found. Head, cheek, lip, nose, right jaw, chin, throat, left arm, left shoulder, left knee, ankle, and genitalia were found. There was a blood clot in the lung. There were also blood clots in some other parts of the body. The autopsy also said that the woman doctor was killed by strangulation. 16 wounds were found on the outside and 9 on the inside of his body. A significant amount of male sperm was found in Maumita's body. Its amount is about 150 mg. From this, they think that she was gang-raped.

Her family, India, and other countries want justice for the rape and murder of Maumita. So that violence against women does not increase. So that women can walk and work safely. According to the 'West Bengal Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2024', life imprisonment, a death sentence, and a fine have been kept as punishment for rape. A proper trial in Moumita's rape case will send a good message to future criminals.

Arman Miah is a Program Assistant at CGS

Note: Views in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect CGS policy.