Kolkata rape: 'Reclaim the Night' resonates across state; Mamata faces heat

Kolkata rape-murder case: Protests have taken place in the state capital before - it's in the city's DNA. However, the scale of this midnight protest was larger than any in recent times

At the stroke of midnight on August 15, 2024, when India ushered in its 78th year of Independence, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Kolkata to protest the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The protest, aimed at “reclaiming the night”, was one of the largest in the city in recent memory.

Holding candles, placards and flaming torches, and blowing conch shells, women from across West Bengal — spanning socio-economic lines — flooded the streets. Men joined in solidarity.

It was a