Kolkata doctor Rape-Murder case Highlights: As Bengal doctors continue to protest, prohibitory orders near R G Kar Hospital extended till Aug 31

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials left Kolkata's Presidency Jail Sunday afternoon after polygraph tests were conducted on the arrested accused Sanjay Roy, news agency ANI reported.

#WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case | CBI Officials leave from Presidency Jail in Kolkata, after conducting the polygraph test of the arrested accused Sanjay Roy. pic.twitter.com/6K41Wx6UZP

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2024

The recent rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata has led many to draw parallels with Aruna — on how little has changed for women, including the safety and security of women health workers in public hospitals. During a recent suo motu hearing on the Kolkata incident, Supreme Court Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud made a reference to the Aruna Shanbaug incident when he said, “Due to ingrained patriarchal biases, the relatives of patients are more likely to attack the women doctors and they are more susceptible to sexual violence too… the Aruna Shanbaug case is a case in point.”

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The Kolkata Police has extended prohibitory orders near the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital for an additional week, until August 31.

CBI sleuths on Sunday launched search operations on the premises of former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh, ex-MSVP Sanjay Vashisth and 13 others in and around Kolkata in connection with their probe into alleged financial irregularities at the institute, officials said.

The anti-corruption unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also searching the residences and offices of those engaged in supplying materials for management and care of patients.

The brutal rape and murder at R G Kar Medical College, Kolkata, has exposed the rift between Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and her designated successor, nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

READ INSIDE TRACT BY COOMI KAPOOR for more

When an Anti-Corruption team of the CBI reached Sandip Ghosh's house in Beleghata initially none opened it it was only after 20 minutes that Ghosh opened the gate of his house at around 8:10 am on Sunday morning.

Ghosh has already been questioned for nine consecutive days so far in connection with the rape-murder case of the trainee doctor.

Akhtar Ali, a former deputy superintendent at the hospital had filed a complaint regarding corruption & irregularities happening at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, mentioning Dr Debashish Som's name. 

On Saturday, separate talks were held between the health department officials as well as the representatives of the junior and senior doctors. The meeting aimed at convincing the protesting doctors to resume work across hospitals and colleges in West Bengal.

But it is said to have failed. Why?

According to sources, the administration failed to give concrete assurance on their demands and thus the doctors decided to continue with their movement.

Leader of Joint Forum of Doctors Manas Gumta said, “Only discussions were held, but no concrete assurance was given by health officials. So, our protest movement will continue.”

After taking over from the SIT, the CBI has begun its investigation into case related to the alleged financial irregularities at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata where the trainee doctor was found raped and murdered on August 9.

The agency was spotted at the residence of former principal Dr Sandip Ghosh's residence this morning. About 14 other places werte also searched, as per PTI.

In a post on X, Leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said: "Mamata Police is deploying a sinister 'toolkit' to redirect protestors away from marching towards Nabanna, where they seek justice for the RG Kar PGT woman doctor. The West Bengal Government is clearly shaken by the viral call for the 'Nabanna Abhijaan' on August 27." He continued, "The state government and its subservient administration are already under immense pressure following the massive public support for the 'Reclaim the Night' campaign, where women from all walks of life took to the streets to express their outrage. The rising momentum of the 'Nabanna Abhiyan,' led by a non-political student organisation, has evidently caused concern for Mamata Banerjee." 

What is the context?

Chhatra Samaj, a student organisation, has called for the march to the secretariat on August 27 to demand justice for the woman doctor who was raped-murdered at a state-run hospital here on August 9, 

The ruling TMC and certain civil society groups have alleged that the rally is being supported by saffron forces like the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Three days before the planned march to the West Bengal secretariat by a student organisation.

Three educational institutions in West Bengal have been issued a show cause notice by the school education department for making students participate in a rally during school hours against the murder and rape of a woman doctor in a hospital in Kolkata, an official said.

The three state-aided schools -- Baluhati High School, Baluhati Girls' High School and Bantra Rajlakshmi Girls School -- all in Howrah district were served the show cause notice on Friday and asked to give an explanation within 24 hours.

The school education department official said that along with students, several teachers and non-teaching staffers had taken part in a joint rally taken out on Thursday by the schools in "violation of all rules and regulation".

--PTI

It is difficult to be anything but aghast and stunned at the grotesque facts of the rape and murder of the young trainee doctor at Kolkata’s R G Kar College and Hospital. What took place after she had been killed is equally blood-curdling: The condition of her body, the alleged attempt at a cover-up, the parents having to wait three hours to see their child, the hurried autopsy and cremation.

Since then, Indian doctors and Indian people, women in particular, have taken to protests and marches to ensure that some semblance of justice can be delivered to the victim’s family.

They have also brought attention to the deplorable conditions faced by female doctors and other medical staff who serve in extremely difficult conditions in under-resourced government hospitals and are denied any guarantee of safety. The inspiring Reclaim The Night movement is calling attention to how patriarchal systems of thought and society routinely deny women safe conditions in their workplaces.

Many have asked the pertinent and vexing question: Is it the absence of laws or the persistent patriarchal and misogynist mindset that is to blame here? (Read More)

Former principal of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, on Saturday arrived at the CBI Special Crime Branch at Central Government Offices complex (CGO) complex, Salt Lake in Kolkata.

Kolkata Police said today that as per the order of the court, all documents about the alleged financial irregularities in RG Kar have been handed over to CBI by SIT.

Healthcare services were affected at state-run hospitals in West Bengal on Saturday as junior doctors continued their ceasework for the 16th consecutive day to protest the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Senior doctors were attending to patients at the emergency services at government hospitals.

"Our protest will continue till justice is served to our sister. There cannot be any alternative to that," an agitating doctor at theKMCH told PTI.

As per the order of the court, all documents pertaining to the alleged financial irregularities in RG Kar have been handed over to CBI by SIT today, the Kolkata Police informed. (ANI)

Dr Sandip Ghosh, an orthopaedics professor, took charge as the principal of R G Kar hospital in mid-2021, after being promoted from his previous position at Calcutta National Medical College (CNMC).

Opposition parties in West Bengal have alleged a “nexus” between Ghosh, TMC leaders and government officials. TMC leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen had also sought that the CBI should investigate Ghosh.

Ghosh’s conduct came under the scanner again after the rape and murder of the R G Kar doctor on August 9. After junior doctors demanded that he should be removed from his post, he was transferred to the CNMC. After he faced student protests there too, the HC ordered him to go on leave.

He was later transferred to the health department as an officer on special duty. After taking over the investigation into the doctor’s rape-murder case, the CBI has questioned Ghosh over six days.

The Calcutta High Court on Friday transferred the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged financial irregularities at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital to the CBI. The SIT was set up by the West Bengal government to probe the alleged corruption at the hospital, since January 2021, a period that corresponds with the tenure of Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of the hospital.

Hearing a plea by Akhtar Ali, former deputy superintendent of R G Kar hospital, the HC directed the CBI to take over the probe by 10 am on Saturday.

The protesting doctors had demanded that they should be regularly informed about the progress of the investigation.

While the protesting doctors in Delhi and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Kalyani, West Bengal called off their cease of work after the request by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, the RG Kar agitators have decided to continue their strike.

A delegation of protesting doctors in the state, who visited the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Kolkata on Friday evening, to enquire about the progress of the investigation into the rape and murder of a junior woman doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, said that they will not return to work for the time being and will continue with the protest.

The doctors delegation was informed by the CBI that since this is a court-monitored investigation, they cannot share details of the investigation with them.