After Gods, it is probably the doctors who are looked upon the saviours of life. But whom does a doctor look up to when her own life is in danger? The brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old female trainee doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital have sent shockwaves across the nation, igniting widespread protests and bringing to light serious concerns about safety within medical institutions.
The incident occurred on the night of August 9, raising troubling questions about institutional negligence, possible evidence tampering, and the role of law enforcement. With public outrage mounting, the case has taken several dramatic turns, including arresting a key suspect, Sanjoy Roy, a civic police volunteer, who is involved in a series of crimes.
On the night of August 9, a second-year postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital had dinner with her juniors. She then decided to rest in the hospital’s seminar hall due to a lack of rest spaces there. The following morning, her semi-nude body was discovered in the same hall, sparking concerns of rape and murder.
The parents of the murdered doctor said that they got a call from the department, saying their daughter had committed suicide. The father of the 31-year-old doctor described the horrific scene when he discovered his daughter’s body, with her legs apart and one hand on her head. He accused the authorities saying that the family was made to wait three hours before being allowed to see her body, adding to their anguish. However, the police claimed that they never called it a suicide.
Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former head of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was asked to go on leave after concerns were raised over his leadership and response during the case. However, in a surprising turn of events, he was reinstated as Principal of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital just 24 hours later.
Both the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court have questioned why an unnatural death case was filed and the hospital authorities did not initiate a complaint on the basis of which an FIR could be filed. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, “Procedure is a separate issue, but the point remains. What is the reason the FIR is lodged almost 14 hours after the discovery of the (body). The most important thing is that the principal of the college should have come straightaway to the college and directed the filing of the FIR.”
The crime has sparked widespread outrage and led to protests within and beyond the medical community. Resident doctor associations in most government hospitals across India have been protesting against the brutal rape and murder of the trainee doctor for the last 11 days, hampering all elective services, including OPDs, non-emergency surgeries, diagnostics, among other services. However, the strike was called off after a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud requested doctors to do so. “How does a public health infrastructure run if the doctors don’t report to work? Justice and medicine cannot go on a strike,” the Supreme Court had said.
The court ordered CBI to submit another status report on its investigation into the rape and murder, while directing the Kolkata Police to submit its report on the vandalism incident by September 5. The bench also ordered proactive steps to address the larger issue of doctors’ safety in public hospitals, a concern that has resonated across the medical community in the wake of the Kolkata incident. The Calcutta High Court has ordered the transfer of the investigation into alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital from a state-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court’s decision came in response to a petition filed by Akhtar Ali, a former deputy superintendent of the medical institution, who requested an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into suspected financial misconduct during the tenure of the college’s former principal, Sandip Ghosh. Prime accused of R.G. Kar MCH, Sanjoy Roy was sent to judicial custody till September 6.
Although, the legal proceedings will take their own time. It might take months or even years to punish the guilty, but is it not the high time when our country enforces rigorous punishment to such mentally sick people. For they very well know, even if convicted, would be out of jail after some years. Recently, in a similar case, a court in Goa has granted bail to Sudhir Sangwan, the prime accused in the murder of Haryana-based Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sonali Phogat. Phogat (43) who died in Goa’s beach village of Anjuna in August last year, after partying with her two associates, both of whom were accused of administering her banned drugs. The district and sessions court granted bail to Sangwan and directed him to furnish a bail bond of Rs One lakh!
Paying few lakhs of rupees in return of the freedom will never help in reducing such heinous crimes. There has to be stricter laws to in-still fear in such demons. The real freedom would be attained when our daughters can live and work without any fear.
