Kolkata Horror: India Needs More than Justice
Over a decade since Nirbhaya, the country continues to fail its women.
On the eve of India’s 78th Independence Day, Kolkata’s streets were brimming with defiance. The voices of tens of thousands of women rose in unison as they chanted, “Azaadi, Azaadi, Azaadi.” The protesters were demanding justice for the August 9 rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. They were also chanting for freedom — for themselves, to live their lives without fear.
Since August 9, protests and doctors’ strikes have swept India as people unite in collective outcry. Their outrage points to a country that is no longer willing to accept sexual violence as the norm. But that aspiration is still far from becoming reality.