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Protesters led by university students broke through the iron
barricades set up on the route of their march to the West Bengal
state secretariat, television footage showed, resulting in a
baton charge by the police, who had earlier declared the protest
illegal.
The Aug. 9 attack on the 31-year-old doctor has caused
nationwide outrage, similar to the widespread protests witnessed
after a 2012 gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus
in New Delhi, with campaigners saying women continue to suffer
from high levels of sexual violence despite tougher laws.
A police volunteer has been arrested for the crime and the
federal police have taken over the investigation.
Junior doctors have refused to see non-emergency patients in
many parts of the country since the incident at Kolkata's
state-run R.G. Kar Medical College, as they launched protests
demanding justice for the victim and greater safety for women at
hospitals.
India's Supreme Court has created a hospital safety task force
and has requested protesting doctors return to work, but some
have refused to budge, including in West Bengal, of which
Kolkata is the capital.
On Tuesday, more than 5,000 policemen were deployed in Kolkata
and the neighboring city of Howrah, a senior officer said, as
the protests led by some university students took off, demanding
the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Kunal Ghosh, a spokesperson for Banerjee's ruling Trinamool
Congress Party, blamed the police crackdown on "lawlessness"
created by workers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya
Janata Party, which is the main opposition party the state, as
well as groups affiliated to it.
The BJP has extended its support to the protesting students,
while senior state leader Suvendu Adhikari told reporters that
Banerjee's administration was trying to suppress the rape and
murder incident - a charge the state government has denied.
(Reporting by Subrata Nag Choudhury in Kolkata; Writing by
Shivam Patel; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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