India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and former cricketer Harbhajan Singh have spoken out in the aftermath of the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. (More Cricket News)
Suryakumar took to Instagram to post a thought-provoking message against sexual assault. The first line of his Insta post read ‘Protect your daughter’, but it was struck out and replaced with ‘Educate your son’. The following lines include brothers, father, husband and friends, implying that it is the men in the society who need to be educated first.
Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh, who is an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member of parliament, wrote an open letter to West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose and chief minister Mamata Banerjee, expressing his "deep anguish" over the delay in justice for the Kolkata rape and murder victim.
Harbhajan said the letter, which was also addressed to the citizens of India, was a call for "justice and introspection".
"This unspeakable act of violence, which shook the conscience of all of us, is not just a heinous crime against one individual but a grave assault on the dignity and safety of every woman in our society.
"It is a reflection of the deeply rooted issues within our society and a blatant reminder of the urgent need for systemic change and action by the authorities," he wrote in the two-page letter, which was also shared on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.
The postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at the RG Kar hospital. Protests continue in Kolkata, with supporters of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan Super Giant football clubs coming together near the Salt Lake stadium on Sunday evening (August 18, 2024), seeking justice for the victim's family.
