The protest against the Barasat gangrape incident reached West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's seat of power Tuesday, as women employees of the state secretariat marched down its corridors in silence Tuesday, demanding justice in the case.
In a rare happening at the over two century old Writers' Buildings, the female workforce quietly made their way from the building's third floor to the ground level holding aloft placards that cried "We want justice" and "Shame".
The protestors' plans to hand over a eight-point memorandum to Banerjee, however, did not succeed, as they were not allowed to meet the chief minister.
"We want justice in the Barasat incident. Since the Park Street gang-rape case we have been observing increasing atrocities against women. We hope that the chief minister, being a woman, will understand our plight. Women are safe nowhere," a protesting employee told media persons later.
A second-year college student was abducted, gang-raped and killed by a group of youths June 7 when she was returning to her home in Kamduni village near Barasat, some 25 km from here, after appearing in an examination.
Eight people have been arrested for the crime.
There were more protests in the streets of Kolkata.
Activists representing Maitree, a network of women's rights organisations and activists, took out a rally from the city hub Metro Channel to the Academy of Fine Arts where a large number of college students took part.
The Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth arm of the opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), also organised a protest procession from Sealdah to Esplanade.
