Kamal Ghorui
Normally, electoral processions carry a sense of frenzy and festivity. In the dance of democracy, it is one of the rare moments when voters directly meet their candidates, while party workers drum up support with boisterous slogans. Following Abhaya’s mother, the RG Kar victim’s mother who is contesting on a BJP ticket from Panihati on the outskirts of Kolkata, however, turned out to be a very different experience. The air was heavy, and the slogans were more along the lines of Abhayar rakto, hobe naki bartho (Abhaya’s blood will not go in vain) and Kanya jadi na thake, Kanyashreer ki hobe? (What is the use of a scheme for the girl child if girls themselves are not safe?). It was a grim reminder of what is at stake in this election.As TOI tracked Abhaya’s mother on the campaign trail, one could sense a palpable grief. Elderly women broke down. Younger women tried to console the candidate. Some spoke on camera, many refused, but most were emphatic that the RG Kar incident, in which a doctor intern was brutally raped in the seminar hall of the government hospital in Kolkata on August 9, 2024, would influence their electoral choice.
Later, in a detailed interview with TOI, Abhaya’s mother explained why she entered politics. Politics, she said, was never the plan. But once her daughter’s death became part of Bengal’s political argument, she felt she had a greater right than anyone else to occupy that space.The campaign has brought support, but also memory. At every stop, she is reminded of the daughter she lost, a bright young woman whose future was cut short. Grief is no longer private.Her first goal, she said, remains justice for Abhaya. Politics, in her telling, has become necessary because she no longer trusts the system to deliver that justice on its own. And in naming that failure, she did not speak vaguely. Her attack ran across the political class, the health minister and the hospital authorities who, she alleged, behaved with a chilling haste after the crime. Her most serious charge was that those in positions of responsibility were ready to treat her daughter as dead even before she had been formally declared so. For the BJP candidate, that goes beyond negligence. It points to a system more interested in managing the aftermath than answering the family. She linked that directly to what she called corruption in the health department, saying it had stolen her daughter’s future. Now, she says, the goal is stripped down to two things: justice for Abhaya and accountability for everyone she believes failed her.Full coverage of assembly election 2026Full transcript of the interview, lightly editedTOI: What are people telling you on the campaign trail?Abhaya’s mother: I would like to ask you, what reaction did you see?TOI: Many were emotional. What did they say?Abhaya’s mother: They are saying, ‘We are all with you.’TOI: When did you decide to enter politics? When did you feel this was necessary for justice?Abhaya’s mother: I never wanted to be in politics. There is so much pain. A candidate from this seat had almost been chosen, but then I felt that since my girl had been made part of politics, I had the greatest right to step in, because I am the one still living with that pain. My house has lost a member. That has not happened to anyone else.I want to thank all those who treated my girl like their own family member. I am grateful to those who protested. My objection is only to those who used my daughter politically.Recently, a doctor couple who were our neighbours died by drowning in Mandarmani. I went to offer condolences. It was hard for me to stand there for long. But the person known as the guardian of Panihati was not there. He, Nirmal Ghosh, is the person who, on the night of August 9, 2024, did not meet me but held a two-hour meeting with the principal of RG Kar to ensure that the body could be quickly disposed of through the last rites.TOI: There are rival claims over who tried to stop the hearse van. What is your thought on that?Abhaya’s mother: Don’t say they stopped the hearse van. They tried. No one could manage to do it. We, as parents, failed. They also could not do so.TOI: You seem to be facing more attacks than others like Tamannah’s mother in similar situations. Why do you think that is?Abhaya’s mother: I don’t know. Those resorting to slander are doing their job. I refuse to engage with them. The more they try to defame me, the more I know I am on the right track.TOI: If you win, how will you balance justice for Abhaya with public expectations as a representative?Abhaya’s mother: It won’t be an issue. I belong to a very ordinary family. I was even called Darji Kakima. We run a business of making school dresses. When my daughter was small, I handled almost the whole process myself.Even while doing tailoring work, I raised a daughter who stood up to the mafia for common people. She had the courage to call a spade a spade, and that is why she was killed in her workplace. That struggle was much harder.TOI: So whatever the election result, the legal fight will continue?Abhaya’s mother: Of course. The legal battle is my number one priority.TOI: Her school remembered her as bright, sincere and unusually disciplined. Does hearing that bring everything back?Abhaya’s mother: Yes, she was a very meritorious child. Even when she played as a kid, she would recite the Bengali and English rhymes she had learnt. When she went to the park with my mother-in-law, everyone would ask her to recite them.TOI: Do those memories return constantly during the campaign?Abhaya’s mother: Certainly. I always like to believe she is still with me. That gives me some peace. Otherwise, I become very restless.TOI: And when you return home?Abhaya’s mother: It always happens. I never thought I would contest an election. My daughter wanted to do an MD and then go for a DM. She was doing a couple of online courses as well. Were we supposed to be in this position? We weren’t.Because of the corruption of the health minister, my daughter had to suffer. I just wish I had not enrolled her in RG Kar. Or if, in 2021, when a case was filed against Sandeep Ghosh, the chief minister had acted swiftly, then probably my daughter would have been safe.TOI: The slogan about Kanyashree has become central to your campaign. What does it mean to you?Abhaya’s mother: After my daughter’s incident, there have probably been 200 such incidents. But probably no one was treated like my daughter, where they tried to dispose of the body like that of a dog or a cat.The most shocking part is that senior authorities like the HoD and Sandeep Ghosh told the court that when they heard someone was dead, they simply asked for the body to be sent to the morgue. But she had not been declared dead at that moment. Even before that, they tried to send her to the morgue. We have proof of it.I will definitely get justice. Education, health and the right to live well are democratic rights. Those have been taken away from us. The education system is broken. Health has a very stylish facade, but inside, a lot is lacking. RG Kar has not changed. It is still the same.We have recently found two more instances. There was the lift mishap leading to death, and then a heart patient died because doctors made him walk. That is not how a patient should be treated.TOI: You have met Nirbhaya’s mother. Did that conversation shape your decision?Abhaya’s mother: In Nirbhaya’s case, the perpetrators were arrested then and there. But in this case, we still have not arrested all of them. I know who killed Abhaya, but we have not caught them.That is why I needed a political platform to ensure justice for my daughter. This government is highly corrupt. Many departments are compromised, and evidence has been destroyed. There were bite marks on my girl’s face, but some masking agent was used so those marks were not visible. In this fight, I need power. That is why I joined politics.TOI: Critics say such crimes happen in BJP-ruled states too. Why join this party then?Abhaya’s mother: If you look at the Hathras incident, a BJP worker was involved, and he is currently in jail, not outside.TOI: So your point is simple: anyone guilty of a heinous crime must be punished quickly?Abhaya’s mother: Certainly. Here, one of my workers’ houses was ransacked yesterday by associates of the person who calls himself the guardian of Panihati. I have no message for his son, who is contesting. But if my workers are attacked, I will not stay silent. I will raise my voice.TOI: Even in a contest like this, do you feel there is more political muscle-flexing than healthy rivalry?Abhaya’s mother: There is so much corruption that governance has completely collapsed. A few days back, job aspirants were sitting on the road and the police beat me up. When I went for Nabanna Abhiyan, I was attacked. The police are behaving in a completely partisan manner.TOI: So that is the larger fight for you?Abhaya’s mother: The main fight is to ensure that women get safety, security and respect. This is the fight of all women, not just mine.TOI: What is your message to women across the country?Abhaya’s mother: I am grateful to people from different parts of the world, especially women, who have raised their voices. My daughter’s incident had a global impact. During the first Reclaim the Night procession, I paid tribute to my daughter and said: I had known you for 30 years, but I did not know your strength.So many people die in so many places, but this incident became a great unifier. People from different castes, creeds and religions took part in the protest. Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting Club stood in unison. And even then justice was denied. That is why I am going door to door for justice. This is not politics. This is blatant corruption.When TOI finally reached her home, a plaque there seemed to sum up, in a few stark words, the struggle her parents are still living through. It said, Abhayar ei mati te, dhorshokder thai nai (There is no space for rapists in the land of Abhaya). It is clear from the campaign trail that the BJP candidate is asking voters to see her candidacy not as a break from mourning, but as the next stage of a fight she believes is still unfinished.
