Ex-TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty gets rape threats for backing doctors' protest

Actor Mimi Chakraborty had participated in a protest against the rape and murder of the trainee doctor in Kolkata

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Bengali actor and former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP, Mimi Chakraborty, revealed that she has been receiving rape threats online after voicing her support for the ongoing protests by doctors in Kolkata. Mimi Chakraborty, along with actors Riddhi Sen, Arindam Sil, and Madhumita Sarcar, participated in a protest in Kolkata against the RG Kar MCH incident on the night of August 14.

The actor took to social media platform X to share screenshots of the abusive messages she received, drawing attention to the concerning increase in such threats.

“AND WE ARE DEMANDING JUSTICE FOR WOMEN RIGHT???? These are just a few of them. Where rape threats have been normalised by venomous men masking themselves in the crowd saying they stand by women. What upbringing and education permits this????” Chakraborty posted on X, tagging the cybercrime division of Kolkata Police.

Mimi Chakraborty was a MP from the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency (2019- 2024).

Nationwide protests continue

The threats come amid a wave of protests by junior doctors across India, demanding justice for a postgraduate trainee doctor who was brutally raped and murdered by a civic volunteer, Sanjoy Roy, at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The protests have led to widespread disruption of out-patient services and surgeries, although emergency services continue to function.

Despite the Supreme Court’s intervention to form a national task force (NTF) for the safety of medical professionals, the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) has stated that the strike will continue until further discussions are held with the protesting doctors. 

FORDA’s statement indicated that all resident doctors’ associations held a meeting following the court's move, but the discussions on the future course of action remained inconclusive.

Escalating threats against medical professionals
 

In a disturbing trend, threats against medical professionals have escalated. Recently, police arrested a man from West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district for allegedly threatening a female doctor with the same fate as the Kolkata victim. The man reportedly issued the threat because the doctor was late in starting his treatment.

“The patient allegedly told the attending doctor that if the medic did not treat him properly, he would ensure the same treatment as the woman doctor of RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata witnessed,” a district health official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.