West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enact tougher laws against rape in response to widespread outrage over the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College. The state government, facing backlash for its handling of the case and subsequent vandalism at the hospital, has come under intense scrutiny.

The Supreme Court criticized the West Bengal government for its inability to manage the situation at the hospital, while Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP and the Left of instigating the vandalism and attempting to tamper with evidence.

The trainee doctor was assaulted in a seminar hall at the hospital, and her body was discovered on August 9. Following the incident, Banerjee promised capital punishment for the perpetrator and warned the police that if they did not make progress by August 18, the case would be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). However, on August 13, the Calcutta High Court transferred the investigation to the CBI, citing serious failings in the probe.

Banerjee led a massive rally in Kolkata on August 17, demanding justice for the victim and calling for the hanging of the accused, a civic volunteer affiliated with the police force.