The parents of Abhaya, the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder victim, on Saturday alleged that Kolkata Police assaulted them during a march to the state secretariat that met with severe violence.
The father claimed police circulated their car number to all checkposts and repeatedly tried to intercept them.
“We used cat-and-mouse tactics to reach Dorina Crossing,” he told ABP Ananda, adding that the Calcutta High Court had permitted a peaceful protest, yet multiple barricades were set up.
The mother alleged she was manhandled, sustaining a swollen forehead from a police baton blow and and broke her sakha (conch shell bangle), which is a traditional accessory for married Hindu women in Bengal.
Accompanied by about 20 supporters, the family moved towards Nabanna but were stopped near the Racecourse.
A scuffle broke out as protesters clambered over police barricades. The march, joined by leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and his BJP colleagues MLA Agnimitra Paul and former MP Arjun Singh, carried national flags and black cloths around their necks.
"Mamata will be destroyed. It is Mamata versus the people," said Suvendu squatting on the roadside, after police stopped him en route to the state secretariat at Howrah.
Police had fortified several routes to Nabanna, erecting heavy barricades at Howrah Maidan, Foreshore Road, Kona Expressway, Santragachhi and other points.
Police deployed water cannons and closed Howrah Bridge and Vidyasagar Setu to most vehicles, triggering traffic chaos and forcing commuters to walk.
Earlier in the day, similar protests were reported across Kolkata, with calls for marches to both Nabanna and Kalighat.
Police and protesters clashed at several points as the Opposition-backed mobilisation against the RG Kar incident intensified.
Despite the blockades, Abhaya’s parents vowed they would reach Nabanna “at any cost.”
Despite the police ban, members of the Abhaya Mancha gathered at Hazra intersection. Some senior doctors like Manas Gumta and Utpal Banerjee are present.
Abhaya Mancha announced that the procession would not be taken forward. The protest will continue by setting up a stage at Hazra intersection.
A member of the Abhaya Mancha went in front of the police barricade, blew a conch shell, and tied a rakhi on the hand of a police officer. The mother of Tamanna, the girl killed in a bomb attack by miscreants in Kaliganj, Nadia, has gone to the gathering place at Hazra intersection.
(This story will be updated)