Sajal Aly joins chorus of voices condemning Kolkata medic’s rape, murder

Prominent Pakistani actress Sajal Aly, known for her work in both Pakistan and India, has raised her voice in support of the justice campaign for a female doctor who was brutally raped and murdered in Kolkata, India.

On August 9, a 31-year-old doctor was found dead in a bloodied state at the RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, West Bengal.

According to the college staff, the doctor had gone to the seminar hall to rest after working nearly 20 hours of a 36-hour shift.

The next day, her body was discovered in a semi-naked condition. The post-mortem report revealed that she had been subjected to a brutal gang rape and was then strangled to death.

As protests erupted across India, particularly among doctors and paramedical staff, Bollywood personalities also took to social media to voice their outrage over the Kolkata rape case.

Joining the chorus of voices was Pakistani actress Sajal Aly, who took to Instagram to express her condemnation.

Aly shared a poster on her official Instagram story, stating, "No Mercy for Rapists," as part of the campaign demanding justice for the murdered doctor.

Nationwide protests, medics on strike

Hundreds of thousands of Indian health workers and their supporters have launched a nationwide strike to protest against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor last week at a government hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata.

Activists and doctors across India continue to protest to demand justice for a female doctor, who was raped and murdered while on duty in a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata.

Feminist groups rallied on the streets in protests titled “Reclaim the Night” in Kolkata overnight on Wednesday – on the eve of India’s independence day – in solidarity with the victim, demanding the principal of RG Kar Medical College resign. Some feminist protesters also marched well beyond Kolkata, including in the capital Delhi.

Many of the protests on Saturday were led by doctors and other healthcare workers, who were also joined by tens of thousands of other Indians demanding action.

Hospitals and clinics across India turned away patients, except for emergency cases, on Saturday as medical professionals started a 24-hour shutdown at 6am. Faculty from medical colleges had been pressed into service for emergencies.

The murdered doctor was found in the seminar hall of the teaching hospital where she was working a 36-hour shift. An autopsy confirmed sexual assault.

The Indian Medical Association, (IMA), the country’s largest grouping of medics with 400,000 members, condemned the “crime of barbaric scale and the lack of safe spaces for women”, adding in a statement that both the medical fraternity and the country were “victims”.

Hospitals and clinics in Lucknow in northern Uttar Pradesh state, Ahmedabad in western Gujarat, Guwahati in northeastern Assam and Chennai in southern Tamil Nadu as well as other cities joined strike.