IMA to continue protest in other forms, women’s rights bodies join stir

Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance of Kolkata medico rape case, IMA protests nationwide for justice.

The Supreme Court has taken into suo motu cognisance the brutal rape and murder of the medico in Kolkata hospital and announced that a Chief Justice of India-led bench would hold a hearing on Tuesday, a day after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) held a 24-hour nationwide protest against the incident.

Members of the Andhra Pradesh unit of the IMA have said they would continue to stage protests till justice is meted out to the victim’s family in this case. “We are eliciting views of our district units across the State and most of them want the continuation of protests in some form, lest the effect of the agitation may thin out,” said Ravi Krishna, IMA’s Andhra Pradesh State Committee Chairman. He said the national-level IMA would meet and take a decision on what form of protests to be staged to maintain the tempo.

Meanwhile, members of Andhra Pradesh Women’s Federation on August 18, Sunday, participated in a protest march from Dasari Nagabhushanam Bhavan to Lenin Centre carrying symbolic effigies of lustful persons involved in the heinous crime and performed their ‘’last rites”.

National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) leader Akkineni Vanaja, state president A. Vimala and secretary P. Durga Bhavani condemned the brutal rape and murder of the medico and said it was a barbaric act that called for the most stringent punishment of the culprits.

They said in the backdrop of the heinous sexual assault and murder of a hapless young woman at her workplace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech promising protection to women and providing opportunities in medical education by scaling up the number of seats to 75,000 made little sense. They said the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre had miserably failed to implement effective laws to ensure women’s safety across the country.

They demanded speedy trial of the culprits through fast-track courts and stringent punishment to those involved in the crime. They also demanded effective implementation of the proposed comprehensive Central Security Act.

State leaders of the organisation Vijaya Lakshmi, A. Padma, P. Durgamba, K. Swathi, Yamini and leaders of All India Student Federation Sai Kumar, Ranjith, Jagadish, Ayyappa, Karthik and others participated in the protest rally.