Thursday, 19 December 2024
Thursday, 19 December 2024
The mother of the 31-year-old trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College has approached the Calcutta high court, requesting a fresh investigation into the case.
Expressing a lack of confidence in the ongoing CBI probe into the rape-murder that led to huge protests, the parents prayed for a direction for a fresh investigation.
The Telegraph Online spoke with a few medical students in Calcutta, who were at the forefront of the protests from August to October, and they also raised serious concerns about the progress of the investigation and campus safety.
Dr. Aniket Mahato, a student at RG Kar Medical College, was hospitalised for six days after his health deteriorated from a hunger strike demanding justice for the murdered medic of RG Kar hospital.
“We have been stating this since day 1 when after 90 days the CBI failed to present its chargesheet that the investigation is not going in the correct direction. Why was the CBI unable to present the chargesheet? We have zero confidence in the CBI now. In its primary chargesheet, the CBI threw a light on evidence tampering. What role do they have to play in that now? This should come out clearly. If the victim’s parents are appealing to the court again, it is quite obvious that it deserves both respect and attention,” Mahato said to The Telegraph Online.
Mahato also stated that the government hospital’s problems, which they brought to the chief minister’s attention, remain unaddressed, and they intend to continue with their protests.
“As of now, the work in our college has been partially completed. We have some restrooms in place and some CCTV cameras have also been installed, but it is not fully complete. In our respective meeting with the CM, she herself took the side of threat culture. The flag bearers of threat culture in our college still continue to roam around freely in broad daylight and it is very much visible. When our CM is only taking the side of (threat) culture, the people responsible for crime will continue to do the same. It is quite natural. I want to add that our protest will continue in the future, we are still continuing our talks and as soon as something is finalised, we will let people know about it.” Mahato added.
Dr. Bipresh Chakraborty, a senior resident at SSKM hospital, shared his doubts about the investigation and spoke about the possibility of a setting between the centre and the state government.
“We could not keep any faith in Kolkata Police. That’s why we demanded CBI investigation. But it never meant that we have blind faith in CBI. At present, the CBI might be trying to put the ball in the West Bengal government’s court that they are not cooperating and that there is evidence tampering. What have they done as a professional body? It is their job to find out what went wrong instead of giving excuses. On what basis do we have confidence in them? This is quite justified for the parents to move to the court as they were unable to file the chargesheet. There is a possibility that behind the door there has been some setting between central and state governments. We just have a very basic demand that we want justice. In our college there were faulty CCTV installations in the beginning which was later changed after complaints. However, restrooms and other changes are still pending.” Chakraborty said.
Dr. Devalina Bose, a 2024 graduate of RG Kar Medical College, indicated that the trainee doctor could have been a victim for exposing wrongdoings in the medical college and hospital.
“As of now, I don’t think the case is progressing in a correct way, till now nothing satisfying has come out. I have heard from people that the victim complained about a few medicines not working to the college administration and that did not work in her favour. It was her duty to provide medicines to the patients and that led to this, I am not sure.”
On October 22, the parents of the victim had written to Union home minister Amit Shah seeking an appointment. In a letter addressed to Shah, the parents of the victim said they were under “tremendous mental pressure” and sought Shah’s “insights”, “guidance and help”. But Shah, who was in Calcutta, abstained from meeting them.
The rape-murder of the trainee doctor on August 9 led to widespread protests among students, healthcare workers, and political parties to the civil society. The CBI, which took over the case from the Kolkata Police on August 13, focussed on Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, as the primary suspect.
The CBI had arrested the former principal of RG Kar, Sandip Ghosh and the officer-in-charge of Tala police station Abhjit Mondal, for financial irregularities and evidence tampering and delay in filing of the FIR.
On December 13, a Sealdah court granted bail to both, citing the CBI’s failure to file charges within the statutory 90-day period.
