RG Kar rape-murder: a year on, security in Kolkata hospital at all-time high, but safety dims as one moves away from city

As one moves to the periphery of Kolkata, the picture keeps changing. A late-night visit by The Indian Express to hospitals, including Sagore Dutta Medical College in North 24 Parganas and Baruipur Super Speciality Hospital in South 24 Parganas, revealed a completely different picture – unmonitored entry gates, poorly lit corridors, and a palpable absence of comprehensive security.

‘Intense vigilance’ at RG Kar Hospital

A year ago, RG Kar Hospital was a hub of student dissent and public protest, a site where thousands gathered to demand justice following the brutal rape-murder on August 9. Today, the impassioned crowds have been replaced with a heavy security presence that has transformed the campus. Armed Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel are now a permanent fixture. Every unknown motion triggers an alert over their wireless communication. The campus, from the women’s hostel to every forgotten corner, is under constant surveillance with a web of CCTV cameras and floodlights that makes even midnight feel like the middle of the day.

“The hospital environment has been overtaken by this atmosphere of intense vigilance by the CISF. This is the new reality for students and staff here. Unfortunately, it took a rape and murder for the bare minimum to be done,” a postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital revealed during our visit to the hospital on Wednesday night.

Taking a walk near the ladies’ hostel, Urooj Ahmed, an MBBS student from Patna, Bihar, said, “When the incident happened, we were just starting our final year. For months, we were terrified to even go to the washroom alone in our hostel. Our families panicked, pressuring all of us to come home. But our hearts were here. We wanted to stand with her and fight for justice.”

After a short pause, she said, “Time has passed. The campus is now brighter than ever, with new lights and CCTV cameras on every corner. CISF personnel, some of them women, are deployed everywhere, even inside our hostel. The security is tighter than anything we have ever known, and we are told we are safe. Yet, the psychological fear remains. To this day, when people get night duty, there is a constant effort to exchange shifts. The sense of security we once had within these walls is shattered forever.”

She added, “Today, there are lights and armed guards. But before that night, could anyone have ever imagined that the emergency ward of our busiest hospital would become the scene of such a crime?”

“Of course, it is much easier to go around now with lights all around and CCTV camera surveillance. Round-the-clock CISF deployment is definitely giving us confidence,” said a second-year MBBS student, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, at the ladies’ hostel on campus.

Sandipan Saha, an office employee of the hospital, said the huge number of LED lights installed across the premises has increased visibility in the area. “One year ago, there were no lights in front of our (MRI) building. Now midnight also feels like morning,” he added.

“Our work culture has also become transparent now, and there is clarity. Earlier, we used to work under huge pressure. We were always afraid to work freely. Two-three people used to dominate us,” Saha said.

Joginder Shah, 42, who has been selling tea at the campus for 12 years, too attested to the changes. “Ab to bahot badal gaya. Pehle to chor-chapata yahan par ghumta tha. Ab police, CISF sob hai. (It has changed a lot. Earlier, troublemakers would roam the premises. Now there is the police and CISF.)”

At CNMC Hospital, cops outside labour room, emergency wing

At Chittaranjan National Medical College (CNMC) and Hospita, 8.5 km from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, there are lights and CCTV surveillance, but a conspicuous difference is the absence of a security cordon.

Police personnel are present only in front of the main gate, and Emergency and Gynaecology wings. Other buildings and the hostel are guarded by security guards from private agencies. At 10.30 pm, however, the area feels a lot safer than it did a year ago.

A woman postgraduate doctor said a lot of measures were taken after last year’s incident. “The police are deployed especially in front of the labour room and the Emergency wing where agitated people are more likely to enter. Security has increased at least in those areas. In front of the hostel too, we now have proper gates and private security personnel.”

‘Some dark spots remain’ at NRS Hospital

Just 2.4 km from CNMC Hospital is the NRS Hospital, which is one of the busiest medical institutes in West Bengal as it is located near Sealdah railway station which connects Kolkata with South and North 24 Parganas, Nadia, and other adjacent districts.

Durga Das, 42, who has been working as a Group-D staff member here for 20 years, said that before the RG Kar incident, the premises had lights only at the main gate and in front of buildings at night. “We used to avoid roaming out of the ward because it was dark outside. It was free land for outsiders. There were no police personnel. Even the police outpost was empty at night.”

Like the other places, here too plenty of lights and CCTV cameras have been set up since the RG Kar incident, she added. “Every night, the police are seen patrolling at least twice. We feel much safer now.”

However, MBBS intern Kakuli Sarkar says nothing much has changed. “It was always like this. Earlier too, our premises were safer than RG Kar.” Mayalmit, an MBBS student who hails from Darjeeling, says the main change noticeable is at the police outpost. “Now, there are police personnel working there actively and there is patrolling till the early hours.”

A section of doctors still claim that there are multiple spots on the premises that still don’t have proper illumination or CCTV coverage. When a team from The Indian Express reached there at around 11 pm, it was noticed that there was no security presence, cameras or even light between Gate-III and the Chest Medicine Department, which is just a stone’s throw from the Emergency wing.

The situation was the same at the Academic section and behind the UG men’s hostel. Just like at CNMC Hospital, here too police personnel were deployed only in front of the Emergency and Gynaecology wings, and the main gate. One or two private security personnel were spotted in front of other buildings and hostel premises.

Some sections have been illuminated over the last year, but other areas are still dark enough to cause concern,” said ENT doctor Parichay Panda, who has just completed his course at NRS. He had actively participated in the protests last year. “There are sufficient number of CCTV cameras, but it is not clear whether they are properly monitored. NRS Hospital also does not have enough police personnel but patrolling is now regular,” Panda said.

“We demanded a ‘panic button’ system and a central referral system, but neither have been introduced. Boards installed to show the number of vacant beds in different government medical colleges and hospitals are also defunct. We still don’t have sufficient rooms for doctors, restrooms, toilet facilities, etc,” he added.

‘Not enough toilets’: student at Sagore Dutta Hospital

Ten kilometres away from RG Kar Hospital, Sagore Dutta Medical College and Hospital, located in Kolkata’s northern suburb, has seen some major improvements. Until the protests broke out last year, the police outpost here was under lock and key nearly all the time. The hospital was not properly illuminated, and police patrolling was completely absent.

On Wednesday, our team visited the hospital at midnight and saw police personnel at the front gate. The police outpost too was functioning and LED lights illuminated on the premises. “Earlier, the lack of proper lights made it uncomfortable for us to walk around the hospital premises at night, but now that is not the case. We can go anywhere. The girls’ hostel has a proper gate and a security guard at night too. Police patrolling is also seen at night,” says Arjun Munda, PG doctor at the hospital.

However, spots that remain dark and unguarded include those near the second gate on BT Road that nursing students use to enter the premises in the early hours of the day. “We don’t have sufficient restrooms and toilets in the departments till date, which we had demanded at the beginning of the movement. However, the situation has improved a lot. There was nothing before the RG Kar incident,” said Krishnendu Biswas, a third-year MBBS student.

At Baruipur Hospital, ‘women doctors, nurses struggling at night’

It was 2 am when The Indian Express team reached Baruipur Super-Speciality Hospital situated in Kolkata’s southern suburb – over 40 km from Sagore Dutta Medical College and Hospital.

Here, a security guard and a police officer were seen at the Emergency wing. No other security personnel were spotted. While some spots had sufficient light, others remained dark and most areas were not covered by CCTV.

“Barring some lights that were installed, the situation here has not changed. Toilets for doctors and patients, CCTV coverage, and other facilities remain the same as before the RG Kar incident,” a woman gynaecologist said. “Nurses and women doctors find it really tough to do night duty here,” she added.