Amid protests raging across the country over the rape and murder of a junior doctor in West Bengal, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers on Thursday visited the home of the doctor who was raped and murdered at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. They spoke with her parents as part of their ongoing investigation.
The officers inquired about the timing of the call the family received from the hospital notifying them of their daughter’s death. They also asked about the victim’s friends and any complaints she might have had about the Hospital, where she was a postgraduate trainee.
CBI questions five doctors
The CBI has also questioned five doctors from the hospital, including its former medical superintendent-cum-vice-principal, the principal, and the head of the Chest Department, where the victim’s body was discovered. They also interviewed the officer-in-charge of the Tala police station, which oversees the hospital’s jurisdiction.
Investigators have requested call detail records and mobile tower location data for Civic Volunteer Sanjay Roy, who was arrested following the discovery of the victim’s body last Friday. The CBI is also examining his mobile data to determine if he made any video or internet voice calls.
Healthcare services in the state have remained crippled for seven days in a row due to the cease-work by junior doctors demanding justice for their colleague, with emergency and outpatient departments in most state-run hospitals still closed, causing significant distress among patients.
JUTA, SUCI strike tomorrow
Meanwhile, the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association has called for a day-long cease-work on Friday to protest the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
In a statement, the association denounced any attempts to conceal evidence related to the rape-murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor and demanded justice for the victim’s family.
“We also demand a high-level impartial probe into alleged attacks on nursing students and medics by miscreants on the intervening night of August 14-15,” JUTA general secretary Partha Pratim Roy told PTI on Thursday.
To emphasise these demands, JUTA will observe a full day cease-work on August 16, alongside a sit-in from 1 pm to 3 pm at the administrative building, Aurobindo Bhavan.
Coincidentally, SUCI (Communists) has also called for a 12-hour general strike in the state on the same day, addressing the same issue.
The vandalism at RG Kar
Around midnight, a group of around 40 people, posing as protesters, entered the hospital, vandalising the emergency department, nursing station, and medicine store, while also damaging CCTV cameras and ransacking a stage where junior doctors had been demonstrating since August 9 protesting the alleged rape and murder of a woman postgraduate trainee there and demanding security at their workplace.
The vandalism took place amidst widespread protests by women across the state in response to the “Reclaim the Night” campaign, rallying against the horrific alleged killing of the doctor.
Police detained nine persons for their alleged involvement in the incident.
Following the incident, on Thursday morning, nurses at the hospital protested the vandalism and demanded enhanced security at the facility. “Such hooliganism inside a hospital is unacceptable,” one of the protesting nurses said.
Mamata blames Oppn for fomenting trouble
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused opposition parties of being behind the vandalism at RG Kar Hospital.
“Police are looking into the matter. I don’t have any complaints against students or agitating doctors. But there are certain political parties which are trying to foment trouble. If you go through the video, you will get to see what happened,” she said.
“Two hospital floors have been destroyed, medicines looted and infrastructure and equipment severely damaged,” she said, adding that it will take a lot of time and money to rebuild it.
On the vandalism, Banerjee said, “Some outsiders who are political elements and want to foment trouble in Bengal – the Left and the BJP – have together unleashed this.”
‘Shame on civil society’: Guv
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday termed the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital a “shame to civil society”. Governor Bose visited the hospital on Thursday afternoon to assess the situation and spoke with agitating doctors.
“Yesterday’s vandalism is a shame to civil society. It’s a shame to all of humanity that young girls are not protected. This bloodbath cannot be allowed anymore. This must stop,” Bose told reporters.
He added, “I am with you and we will work together to solve this. I assure you justice. My ears and eyes are open.”
(With inputs from agencies.)