Kolkata doctor's sexual assault, murder: BJP to hold candlelight march to CM Mamata Banerjee's residence

Early on Thursday, a large number of unidentified miscreants entered the RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata and resorted to vandalism. Pic/PTI

Demanding the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee over vandalism at Kar Medical College and Hospital, the Bharatitya Janata Party (BJP) said its women's wing will hold a candlelight rally to her residence on Friday in protest.

Alleging that law and order has "failed" in the state, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said that the saffron party will also hold a sit-in demonstration near Kar Medical College and Hospital, where a woman postgraduate trainee doctor was raped and murdered last week, leading to huge protests.

He said that BJP's women's wing will hold a candlelight rally to Banerjee's south Kolkata residence at Kalighat from Hazra crossing on Friday to protest the vandalism at Kar Hospital in the early hours of Thursday.

Majumdar added that the party will hold several protest programmes across the state from Friday against the vandalism and ransacking of the Emergency ward and other places at the hospital, including a stage where junior doctors were agitating to demand justice over the rape and brutal murder of the woman postgraduate trainee.

"We will hold a candlelight march to the chief minister's residence to protest the vandalism," Majumdar said.

He said that the BJP will also hold road blockades across the state on Friday.

Meanwhile, nurses at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata protested against vandalism on Thursday morning, hours after unidentified miscreants ransacked a part of the medical establishment where the doctor was allegedly found dead last week, reported news agency PTI.

"Such hooliganism inside a hospital is unacceptable," one of the protesting nurses said, reported PTI.

According to the police, nearly 40 people, masquerading as protestors, entered the hospital premises, vandalized property, and pelted the police personnel present with stones, prompting the force to burst tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.

The miscreants carrying sticks, bricks and rods, vandalised the Emergency ward, its nursing station and medicine store, besides a section of the Out Patients Department (OPD) at the hospital in north Kolkata, police said, reported PTI.

Several CCTV cameras in and around the area were destroyed by the vandals who also ransacked a stage where the junior doctors have been demonstrating since August 9 evening following the death of the physician.

A police vehicle was overturned and several two-wheelers parked there were also damaged in the incident, and some police officers suffered injuries.

(With PTI inputs)