The woman’s rape and killing has sparked a political blame game in West Bengal, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the governing Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) of orchestrating the attack.
The TMC has refuted the allegation and has blamed “political outsiders” for stoking the violence.
Tens of thousands of women across West Bengal participated in the Reclaim the Night march on Wednesday night to demand “independence to live in freedom and without fear”.
Though the protests were largely peaceful, clashes erupted between the police and a small group of unidentified men who barged into the RG Kar Hospital – the site of the crime – and ransacked its emergency ward.
At least 25 people have been arrested in connection with the incident so far.
Protests have also been held in many other Indian cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.
“It feels like hope is being reignited,” one demonstrator, Sumita Datta, told the AFP news agency as thousands of people marched through the streets of Kolkata on Friday.
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