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Details emerge after doctor raped and murdered in India as thousands protest
Thousands took to the streets of Kolkata early Thursday to condemn the rape and murder of a local doctor, demanding justice for the victim and an end to the chronic issue of violence against women in Indian society.
The discovery of the 31-year-old’s brutalized body last week at a state-run hospital has sparked nationwide protests, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding swift punishment for those who commit “monstrous” deeds against women.
Large crowds marched through the streets of Kolkata in West Bengal to condemn the killing, with a candlelight rally at midnight coinciding with the start of India’s independence day celebrations on Thursday.
The protesters in Kolkata, who marched under the slogan “reclaim the night”, called for a wider tackling of violence against women and held up handwritten signs demanding action.
“We want justice,” read one sign at the rally. “Hang the rapist, save the women,” read another.
Debarchan Chatterjee/NurPhoto via Getty Images
“The atrocities against women do not stop,” midnight marcher Monalisa Guha told Kolkata’s The Telegraph newspaper.
“We face harassment almost on a daily basis,” another marcher, Sangeeta Halder, told the daily. “But not stepping out because of fear is not the solution.”
“Monstrous behavior against women”
Modi, speaking in New Delhi on Thursday morning at independence day celebrations, did not specifically reference the Kolkata murder, but expressed his “pain” at violence against women.
“There is anger for atrocities committed against our mothers and sisters, there is anger in the nation about that,” he said.
“Crimes against women should be quickly investigated; monstrous behavior against women should be severely and quickly punished,” he added. “That is essential for creating deterrence and confidence in the society.”
Doctors are also demanding swift justice and better workplace security in the wake of the killing, with those in government hospitals across several states on Monday halting elective services “indefinitely” in protest.
Protests have since occurred in several other hospitals across the country, including in the capital.
“Doctors nationwide are questioning what is so difficult about enacting a law for our security,” Dhruv Chauhan, from the Indian Medical Association’s Junior Doctors’ Network, told the Press Trust of India news agency. “The strike will continue until all demands are formally met.”
The Telegraph on Thursday praised the “spirited public protests” across India.
“Hearteningly, doctors and medical organizations are not the only ones involved,” it said in an editorial. “The ranks of the protesters have been swelled by people from all walks of life.”
Police accused of mishandling case
Indian media have reported the murdered doctor was found in the teaching hospital’s seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a brief rest during a long shift.
An autopsy has confirmed sexual assault, and in a petition to the court, the victim’s parents have said that they suspected their daughter was gang-raped, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.
Though police have detained a man who worked at the hospital helping people navigate busy queues, officers have been accused of mishandling the case.
Kolkata’s High Court on Tuesday transferred the case to the elite Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to “inspire public confidence.”
In the early hours of Thursday, a mob of some 40 people angry at authorities’ handling of the case stormed the grounds of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, the site of the murder.
The men smashed property and hurled stones at police, who fired tear gas in response, authorities said.
DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images
West Bengal lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee, from the Trinamool Congress party, condemned the “hooliganism and vandalism,” but said “the demands of the protesting doctors are fair and justified.”
History of sexual violence in India
Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India. An average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in India in 2022, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau.
That year, police arrested 11 people after the alleged brutal gang rape and torture of a young woman that included her being paraded through the streets of Dehli. Also in 2022, a police officer in India was arrested after being accused of raping a 13-year-old girl who went to his station to report she had been gang-raped.
In March 2024, multiple Indian men were arrested after the gang rape of a Spanish tourist on a motorbike trip with her husband.
For many, the gruesome nature of the attack has invoked comparisons with the horrific 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus.
The woman became a symbol of the socially conservative country’s failure to tackle sexual violence against women.
Her death sparked huge, and at times violent, demonstrations in Delhi and elsewhere.
Under pressure, the government introduced harsher penalties for rapists, and the death penalty for repeat offenders.
Several new sexual offences were also introduced, including stalking and jail sentences for officials who failed to register rape complaints.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.