Colleagues involved in crime, parents tell CBI; Rape-murder site tampered, alleges NCW
KOLKATA, Aug 16: The Calcutta High Court on Friday described the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital as an “absolute failure of state machinery,” while the doctor’s parents told the CBI that a few interns and physicians of the reputed medical facility were allegedly involved in her rape and murder.
Kolkata Police has arrested 25 people for their alleged involvement in the early morning vandalism on August 15, with Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal admitting that, despite adequate security, they were unprepared for the violence and were caught off-guard.
The HC’s division bench led by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam expressed disbelief that police intelligence failed to detect the gathering of nearly 7,000 people at the hospital in the early hours of Independence Day.
“It’s hard to believe that police intelligence did not have information about a mob of such magnitude assembling at the hospital,” Chief Justice Sivagnanam remarked.
Mamata blames BJP, CPM
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who led a two-km long protest march in Kolkata demanding justice for the woman doctor, accused the opposition CPI(M) and the BJP of orchestrating vandalism at the hospital and spreading fake news on social media to obscure the truth behind the doctor’s killing.
The doctor, whose body was found on August 9, was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty. A civic volunteer was arrested the following day in connection with the crime.
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the CBI to probe the crime.
Healthcare services in the state have remained crippled for eight consecutive 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.
After learning about renovation work on one floor of the hospital where the body of the woman doctor was found, the Chief Justice said the court could order the closure of the medical establishment.
The bench directed police and the administrator of the hospital to file separate affidavits narrating the “true state of affairs” at the hospital and all connected matters on August 21 when the matter will be heard again.
Parents allege colleagues of RG Kar college involved
The parents of the woman doctor, have told the CBI that a few interns and physicians of the same medical establishment were involved in the crime, an officer said on Friday.
The parents also provided the central agency with names of those who they suspect to be associated with their daughter’s killing in the state-run hospital.
“The parents told us that they suspect the involvement of multiple persons behind the sexual assault and murder of their daughter. They have given us names of a few interns and doctors working with their daughter at the RG Kar Hospital,” the CBI officer said.
The central agency officer said that they were giving priority to questioning the doctors and officers of the Kolkata Police who were part of the investigation.
“We have zeroed in on at least 30 names whom we will be calling for questioning. We have already started questioning them,” he said.
The CBI on Friday summoned one house staff, two post-graduate trainees (PGTs) who were on duty with the doctor on that night when she was murdered.
CBI sleuths already questioned the officer-in-charge of the Tala Police Station on Thursday night.
Crime spot tampered : NCW
The site where the 31-year-old doctor was allegedly raped and murdered in a Kolkata hospital underwent sudden renovations, potentially leading to tampering with evidence, the NCW has alleged, noting that the crime scene should have been sealed immediately by the police.
The NCW has revealed lapses in security, infrastructure, and the investigation surrounding the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata.
The NCW’s inquiry revealed that no security guards were present during the incident, leaving on-call interns, doctors, and nurses without sufficient protection during night shifts.
Furthermore, the Committee reported potential evidence tampering, noting that the site where the crime allegedly took place was undergoing sudden renovations.
The crime scene, they emphasized, should have been sealed immediately by the police.
The hospital was also found to lack basic amenities for female medical staff, including poorly maintained washrooms, inadequate lighting, and a complete absence of security measures.
The findings come after the Commission took suo motu cognizance of the incident, which has shocked the nation.
Reacting to media reports the NCW initiated an inquiry into the case. On 10 August 2024, the Commission addressed a letter to the Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, demanding immediate action and a thorough investigation into the incident.
19 arrested for vandalism
Kolkata Police on Friday said it has so far arrested 19 people in connection with the vandalism and violence at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in the metropolis.
Those arrested were remanded to police custody by a city court till August 22, officials said.
The emergency ward, nursing station, medicine store and parts of the outpatient department of the hospital were vandalised by miscreants on Thursday amid midnight protests by women across West Bengal, condemning the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in the hospital’s seminar hall on August 9.
Several persons, including some policemen, were injured in the violence.
Union Health Ministry issues new directives
The Union Health Ministry on Friday said the heads of institutions will be responsible for filing an institutional FIR within six hours of an incident of violence against any healthcare worker on duty.
The office memorandum by Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Atul Goel was issued to directors and medical superintendents of central government hospitals, including AIIMS, and principals of all medical colleges across the country.
“It is stated that in the event of any violence against any healthcare worker while on duty, the Head of Institution shall be responsible for filing an institutional FIR within a maximum of 6 hours of the incident,” the memo read.
Recently it has been observed that violence has become common against doctors and other healthcare staff in government hospitals, the memo said.
The OM said a number of health workers suffer physical violence during the course of their duty and many are threatened or exposed to verbal aggression. Most of this violence is done either by patients or their attendants, the it added. (PTI)