‘Reclaim The Night’: How Rimjhim Sinha’s FB Post On Kolkata Horror Garnered Momentum

Kolkata: The gruesome rape and murder incident of a female trainee PG doctor, which took place at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, has shaken the nation prompting a massive uproar across the country. Shaken by the horrific crime, Rimjhim Sinha, who is a former sociology researcher from Kolkata’s Presidency University, decided to organise a protest on August 14, ‘The Night Is Ours’, through her social media account - Facebook - garnering huge attention on her post. Women in large numbers expressed their support for her post and agreed to join Rimjhim Sinha in the protest.

The aim of organising the protest was to show that while India got independence on the intervening night of August 14-15, women still don't have true independence here. After her call, thousands of people from marginalised sections reportedly participated in the protest on Wednesday night.

Rimjhim Sinha's Post Garnered Overwhelming Response On Facebook

On the brutal rape and murder incident, Rimjhim Sinha decided to post her thoughts in a Facebook post wanting to organise a protest against the crime on August 14, to which many Facebook users resonated with her thoughts resulting making her post go viral.

Rimjhim’s post on Facebook garnered a lot of attention from women. In her post, she called for every person who belonged to a marginalised gender community to come forth and celebrate their independence.

Her post received an overwhelming response receiving millions of likes and comments. Rimjhim has now planned to take the movement forward with several demands for women’s safety.

The semi-nude body of the woman PGT doctor, a second-year student in the chest medicine department, was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital on Friday. She was on duty on Thursday night, and her body bore multiple injury marks. The preliminary autopsy report indicated sexual abuse before her murder, leading her father to allege that she was raped and killed inside the hospital.

There were strikes and protests by junior doctors, trainees and medical students in various parts of the country on Tuesday, affecting healthcare services.

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered that the investigation should be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The HC rapped the West Bengal government and observed that protesting doctors were hurt and justified in expressing their emotions. Students of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital expressed that they were fine with the case being transferred to the CBI, but they wanted a judicial inquiry.