Seeking Justice, At The Stroke Of Midnight

As the outrage over the rape and murder of the 31-year-old doctor at R. G. Kar Medical College continues to rise, protest marches were held at various states of the country as more gruesome details about the incident came to light.

At around midnight, before the dawn of Independence Day, people from across West Bengal — and the country — had hit the streets in protest, under the banner ‘Reclaim The Night’, to urge authorities to make public spaces safer for women and ensure justice in the rape and murder case.

In Delhi, women protested outside All India Institutes of Medical Science (AIIMS), and C. R. Park which is a residential area mostly inhabited by the Bengali community. The protest took place late on August 14 night in a bid to “reclaim the streets”.

The 31-year-old victim was a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s R. G. Kar Medical College. Ever since the incident came out the junior doctors have halted work to demand justice for the victim.

Outside AIIMS students and women from different parts of the city joined in. While the doctors from the hospital were to join the protest, it was later revealed that the AIIMS authorities have “taken out a notice, warning the residential doctors:, who were to be a part of the protest, of “dire consequences for joining, including detention by the police authorities”.

Slogans of “we want justice” “shame on TMC” were shouted as candles were lit in remembrance of the bright doctor who was so brutally raped and killed.

Speaking to The Citizen, Maitri, who hails from West Bengal, and is pursuing her PhD from Delhi said the case is not only brutal, it also shows the lax law-and-order situation.

“There should have been no need to protest, the law should be such that instant action should be taken. This could have been any woman. We live far away from home and this could happen to us as well. Women are not safe in this country,” she said while holding placards, anger visible in her eyes.

The student said that it is outrageous how such incidents can happen to doctors and nothing major happens days after the incident comes to light.

Even as there was anger among the women and protesters, the police did not help and tried to push the protesters in a confined space. Later, the protesters were also pushed around by the police.

At C. R. Park, a large crowd had gathered at the Mela Ground and lit candles in solidarity with the victim. Soon after, a march was taken out mostly by residents. There was anguish and anger amidst the youth.

Reeta, a resident of C. R. Park spoke to The Citizen citing her concerns and anger. Her young daughter, who is a doctor herself, was part of the protest. “I am scared every day for my daughter. She was in Kolkata and every night when she had duty, I used to keep a check on her,” Reeta said.

Adding that what happened was horrible, Reeta said that there are no concrete laws to tackle this situation. “Why can’t we have a safe working environment for doctors? Am I supposed to wake up every night wondering whether my daughter is safe or not,” she added.

Ishita, a journalist, said that this is a larger issue and needs to be seen as that. “Women are not safe in this country. There is no proper implementation of laws and it is outrageous we have to come out on streets only when something this horrible comes out,” she added.

While the residents were protesting, the police started forcing them to cut short the protest. The situation escalated to a level that parents got worried for the safety of their young daughters protesting and took them back home.

“The irony here is these young girls were intimidated by police as they were protesting against a brutal gang rape,” a resident commented.

In West Bengal, protests were held in various locations to ‘reclaim the night’ against the rape-murder incident at the medical college and hospital. Demonstrations occurred in the Shyambazar area of Kolkata, with additional protests led by women in Jadavpur, Kolkata, and Siliguri.

However, as protests continued at R. G. Kar Hospital, miscreants reportedly entered the hospital late night and vandalised the area where people had gathered to protest.

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The miscreants allegedly attacked protesters, including doctors, and also damaged police vehicles, those present at the protest said.

Meanwhile, several doctors who accessed the autopsy report have indicated a possibility of a gang rape. Many reports claim that “the rape is not the doing of one person and that the hospital authorities are trying to tamper the evidence”.

According to reports, the second-year postgraduate trainee doctor spent her night just like any other night on duty. She had dinner with her juniors and decided to go take some rest at 2 AM.

However, due to a lack of a resting space in the hospital, the doctor decided to go to the seminar hall, considering it a safe place to rest. The next morning, on August 9, her body was discovered semi-nude inside a seminar hall.

Her father expressed grave concerns, stating that there were clear indications of rape and that the hospital was delaying the investigation. The preliminary autopsy reports indicated that the victim was sexually assaulted before her murder.

The postmortem report revealed gory details. The doctor had been throttled to death. Her thyroid cartilage was broken due to strangling, and a deep wound was found in her private parts, the four-page report stated.

The autopsy ruled out suicide and found multiple injuries consistent with a violent death, including broken bones and bleeding from various body parts.

Various reports have revealed violent details indicating that her nose and mouth were covered, and her head was forcefully pushed against a wall or floor to silence her cries for help.

The scratch marks on the woman's face are believed to have been caused by the accused's fingernails, indicating that the victim desperately tried to fight back.

“The mouth and throat were constantly pressed to prevent screaming. The throat was strangled to suffocate. The thyroid cartilage broke due to strangling,” the postmortem report stated.

The report also mentioned that the woman was bleeding from both eyes, mouth and private parts. The report said the wounds in her private parts were caused by “perverted sexuality” and “genital torture”. However, the reason for her eye wound has not been determined yet.

The crime is believed to have occurred between 3 AM and 6 AM, with signs of strangulation and smothering.

The police have arrested 33-year-old Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer, for his alleged role in the crime. Evidence, including a torn Bluetooth earphone, helped lead to his arrest.

He was arrested on Saturday on the basis of CCTV footage that showed him entering the building where the doctor was found murdered. Roy also had access to various hospital departments due to his connections with senior police officers and hospital authorities.

Allegations have also surfaced regarding Roy’s past behaviour, including previous marital abuse and his history of watching pornography.

Meanwhile, Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former head of R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, was asked to go on leave after concerns were raised over his leadership and response during the case. Dr Ghosh has faced backlash for comments perceived as victim-blaming and for failing to maintain adequate safety for staff, after which he resigned from his post.

However, in a surprising turn of events, he was reinstated as Principal of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital just 24 hours later. Meanwhile, a complaint has been filed against Dr Ghosh, accusing him of disclosing the victim’s identity.

The complaint, filed by Advocate Shayan Sachin Basu, has been sent to the Director General of West Bengal Police Rajeev Kumar, and Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal.

The complaint alleged that on August 12, Dr Sandip Ghosh “egregiously disclosed the identity of the rape victim by using her name on no fewer than six occasions. This deliberate and reckless act of naming the victim was done in the presence of various media outlets, thereby amplifying the violation and causing irreparable harm to the dignity and privacy of the victim.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called for the death penalty for the accused and has stated her support for the protesting doctors while also urging them to continue patient care.

The state government has also implemented police camps in hospitals to enhance security for healthcare workers and has promised to transfer the case to the CBI if local police do not make sufficient progress by the weekend.

Banerjee had given Kolkata Police six days to complete the investigation. “If the city police cannot finish their probe by Sunday, the state government would recommend a CBI investigation into the incident that has shaken the state and the country,” she said.

However, five days before the Chief Minister's deadline to the police, the Calcutta High Court intervened and ordered that the case be transferred to the central agency at once.

The bench led by Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam noted that there has been "no significant progress in the investigation" so far and flagged the possibility of destruction of evidence.

The court also noted serious lapses on the part of the hospital administration and slammed the former Principal, whose resignation and swift reinstatement in a key role has sparked a row.

Multiple public interest litigations were also filed in the high court with the common prayer that state police hand over the investigation to CBI or any other independent agency.

Among the petitioners were the victim's parents and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari. The court's order noted that the petitioners had said there were injuries on the victim's body and that Chief Minister Banerjee had said the state government has no objection if the probe was transferred to CBI.

The victim’s parents have sought a probe monitored by the High Court to ensure that no evidence is tampered with or destroyed. The parents also sought protection for themselves, witnesses and any other individual who may have information related to the case.

The court said it is guided by various decisions of the Supreme Court.

“At this juncture, we referred to the decision in K. V. Rajendran Vs. Superintendent of Police reported in (2013) 12 SCC 480, where the law has been summarized that the Court would exercise its Constitutional powers for transferring an investigation from the State Investigating Agency to any other independent investigating agency like C.B.I. only in rare and exceptional cases, where the Court finds it necessary in order to do justice between the parties and to instill confidence in the public mind,” the order stated.

It also noted other factors such as "investigation by the State police lacks credibility and it is necessary for having a fair, honest and complete investigation and particularly, when it is imperative to retain public confidence in the impartial working of the State agencies".

The victims' parents said she spoke to them at 11.30 PM, hours before she was found dead, and "sounded in her usual good spirits showing no sign of distress or discomfort". At 10.53 AM, the next day, the parents said, the Assistant Superintendent of the hospital informed them that their daughter was unwell.

About 22 minutes later, the same Assistant Superintendent told them that their daughter had committed suicide on hospital premises. "The petitioners immediately rushed to the hospital and according to them, they were not permitted to see their daughter's body and they were made to wait for 3 hours," the order said, adding that the petitions "suspect that this delay was intentional".

The victim's parents said that they were allowed to see the body only after the Chief Minister intervened. By this time, a large-scale agitation had started on the campus of the hospital.

"The petitioners have narrated the state in which the body of their daughter was found when they were permitted to see and they would state that there were bleeding injuries over the body and there were no cloth on the lower part of the body," the order says, adding, "The parents suspect that more than one individual were offenders and their suspicion is that it is a case of gang rape".

The state government's counsel said that the police outpost at the medical college and hospital received information about the incident at 10.10 AM Friday. "At 10:30 AM the local police viz. Tala Police Station was informed. At 11:00 AM a homicidal team reached the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and by then more than 150 people had gathered. It is submitted that at 11:30 AM, the Additional Commissioner of Police and senior officers were at site. The parents of the victim arrived at 1:00 PM," the state counsel said.

The state government said that it is false that the parents were made to wait for three hours. The state government said the body of the victim could not be moved out of the seminar hall because of the agitation and a doctor examined the body in the seminar hall. Later, the Rapid Action Force had to be called in and the post-mortem was done between 6.10 PM and 7.10 PM.

Meanwhile, the HC came down heavily on Dr Sandip Ghosh. The court said it is "disheartening that the Principal was not pro-active".

“The Principal of the institution either by himself or by issuing appropriate directions could have lodged a complaint with the police since the death occurred within the hospital premises. This, in our view, was a clear dereliction of duty on the part of the Principal and the officers under his command and this has led to various repercussions and it has been admitted by the authorities that the situation became chaotic and Rapid Action Force had to be brought in," the HC said.

The court flagged that Dr Ghosh was made Principal of National Medical College & Hospital "within the shortest possible time".

“It is difficult to comprehend as to why when a person submits his resignation, the concerned authority of the State did not exercise the two options, which are available i.e. either to accept the resignation or to refuse to accept the resignation."

The court said the state authority should bear in mind the circumstances that led to the resignation. "Therefore, even assuming the resignation was not accepted, the least that can be expected from a responsible higher official of the concerned department is to immediately relieve the Principal from his duties and not assign him any other duty of equal responsibility.

“If this course had not been adopted and if he has been assigned another responsibility equivalent to the responsibility held by them, it would tantamount to putting a premium," the order says questioning the "tearing urgency" in giving Dr Ghosh a new role. The court asked Dr Ghosh to go on leave immediately and said he shall not be permitted to hold the post of Principal of National Medical College and Hospital, Calcutta until further directions.

The court shredded the hospital administration over an unnatural death case registered after the doctor was found dead. Saying that this was "quite disturbing", the HC said, "When the deceased victim was a doctor working in the hospital, it is rather surprising as to why the Principal/hospital did not lodge a formal complaint. This, in our view, was a serious lapse, giving room for suspicion."

The state government's counsel submitted that the unnatural death case was registered since there was no complaint at that point of time from any corner. The court noted that the crime spot assumes extraordinary importance because it is a government hospital and the victim was a doctor working there.

"Considering these factors, we would be well-justified in making an observation that the administration was not with the victim or the family of the victim," it said.

The court also said it appreciates the feelings vented out by doctors and medical students and in particular, those at R. G. Kar Medical College & Hospital. "However, we wish to observe that there is a pious obligation on the part of the doctors to treat their patients, more particularly the patients, who come to the Government hospital, who are not from the affluent strata of society."

Meanwhile, stating that the entire country was “shocked by the gruesome rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata”, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in his first reaction on the incident Wednesday said that “the attempt to save the accused instead of providing justice to the victim raises serious questions on the hospital and the local administration.”