The August 29 rape and murder of the junior doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital sparked widespread fury and grief because people saw themselves or their loved ones in her. An act of violence can destroy the sense of orderly existence in an instant. Perhaps the protesters felt that if this could happen in a place that is supposed to save life, it could happen anywhere. It is also possible that this act of violence showed them what they fear most: that the state is the r