'The fight is not over yet': Kolkata witnesses 42-km torch relay in protest against RG Kar rape-murder

The march began at south Kolkata's Highland Park at 4 pm, proceeded to various important landmarks and concluded in North Kolkata's Shyambazar area past midnight.

People from across the fraternities joined the march, which was one of the end number of rallies the city and its neighbouring districts witnessed since August 9 when the crime was discovered at the major state-run hospital in Kolkata.

"The fight is still not over," this was the message reverberated from the rally throughout on a day about 7,000 junior doctors quit ceasework, which they had called protesting against the crime, after the state government bowed down to some of their demands and promised to fulfill the rest.

The torch relay was more like the 'Reclaim The Night' movement, which was held in the city many times over the last month demanding equal rights, safety and security for women.

Though Kolkata Police had arrested civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy in connection with the incident, West Bengal junior doctors suspect there are more than one behind the incident.

The case is currently being probed by the CBI under the monitoring of the Supreme Court.

In connection with the rape-murder case, former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, who was already in the CBI custody in connection with financial irregularities in the hospital, is the second arrest by the probe agency.

Prior to CBI's investigation, the state administration came under the scanner over its alleged cover-up, delay in filing FIRs, demolition work near the crime scene, posting of Ghosh to the same post at another college after his resignation from RG Kar.

In its third hearing, the Supreme Court earlier this week said the status report of the RG Kar case provided by the CBI is "worse" and "really disturbing" stating the probe agency will be given time "to unearth the truth".

"What the CBI has revealed in the report is worse, really disturbing..What you are flagging is of utmost concern, we ourselves are concerned, CBI has flagged it for us..we are ourselves disturbed by what we have read," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.

A three-judge bench led by the CJI said the CBI is not "sleeping over" the probe and the investigating agency has responded to the issues that the court has flagged.

The CJI said as quoted by Live Law, "Making a disclosure today of what the CBI is investigating will jeopardise the process, the line which is taken by the CBI is to unearth the truth.. the SHO himself has been arrested... CBI has responded specifically to the issues we have raised, including whether the challan in the statutory form was submitted along with the postmortem...

"CBI is also exploring the possibility of whether the scene of the crime was tampered with, evidence was destroyed, whether there was the complicity of other persons in failing to report the crime etc..."

"The CBI, apart from performing its independent investigation, is also addressing the issues we raised. There is still time to complete the investigation. We have to give CBI adequate time, they are not sleeping over. To put any time limit will be to dislocate the investigation...They are required to be given time to unearth the truth," the CJI added.