The Indian police have fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters in Kolkata who are questioning the rape and murder of a doctor

Police in India used teargas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters who were marching in the eastern city of Kolkata on Tuesday. The protesters were demanding the resignation of a top state minister in the aftermath of a gruesome rape and murder of a trainee doctor.

According to television footage, university students led protesters who breached the iron barricades that had been erected along the path to the West Bengal state secretariat. This action led to a baton charge by the police, who had previously proclaimed the protest to be illegal.

The 31-year-old doctor’s attack on August 9 has sparked widespread outrage, reminiscent of the widespread protests that occurred following the 2012 gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi. Campaigners have complained that women continue to experience high levels of sexual violence, despite the implementation of more stringent laws.

A police volunteer has been apprehended for the offense, and the federal police have assumed responsibility for the investigation.

Junior physicians have refused to see non-emergency patients in numerous regions of the country since the incident at Kolkata’s state-run R.G. Kar Medical College. They have initiated protests in order to demand justice for the victim and increased safety for women in hospitals.

The Indian Supreme Court has established a hospital safety task force and has requested that protesting physicians return to work. However, some have refused to comply, including in West Bengal, the capital of which is Kolkata.

As the protests led by certain university students, who are demanding the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, commenced on Tuesday, over 5,000 police officers were stationed in Kolkata and the neighboring city of Howrah, according to a senior officer.

The police crackdown was attributed to “lawlessness” created by workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the primary opposition party in the state, as well as affiliated organizations, according to Kunal Ghosh, a spokesperson for Banerjee’s ruling Trinamool Congress Party.

While senior state leader Suvendu Adhikari claimed that Banerjee’s administration was attempting to suppress the rape and murder incident, the BJP has provided its backing to the protesting students. The state government has refuted this accusation.