An angry Vineet Goyal, Calcutta’s police commissioner, blamed a “motivated” and “malicious media” and “social media campaign” for the people of the city losing trust in the police over the investigation into the horrific rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The facts in the case that are known so far paint a very different picture.

The facts are evident from the Calcutta high court order transferring the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the petition filed by the parents of the victim, and the events playing out on live TV since the early hours of Thursday.

“You people are spreading these kind of rumours,” a visibly upset Goyal told the media in the early hours of India’s 78th Independence Day. “I am angry, I am extremely angry. We have not done anything wrong… because of this malicious media campaign, Calcutta police has lost the trust of the people…. Unfortunately, this incident would not have happened, if this kind of malicious campaign was not being run by the media.”

When he was speaking, his men were still fighting pitched battles with a mob that had already ransacked the Emergency department of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and smashed up the doctors’ protest site there.

The mob was clearly part of a pre-planned conspiracy to vilify the Reclaim The Night protests that drew hundreds of thousands of common people – largely women – to the streets peacefully but angrily demanding justice for the young doctor brutally raped and murdered.

Minutes before Goyal’s outburst, TV reporters were screaming: “See how the mob is smashing up things at RG Kar. See how the police and RAF are not doing anything. See, the mob has overturned a police vehicle.”

The police did swing into action and policemen were indeed injured, but that was only after the mob exited RG Kar Hospital building. This was seen on live TV by anyone who was watching.

It is this kind of inaction that has plagued the investigation as well. This is not a malicious media or social media campaign. This is what Calcutta high court said in its order:

“The parents of the victim apprehend that if the State police is permitted to continue the investigation, in all probabilities, the investigation will be derailed and the culprits will not be brought to books [sic].”

Commissioner Goyal, in his outburst, said: “We are trying to satisfy the family.” He also said the police have not tried “to save anybody” in the case.

Clearly his force has failed in satisfying either the court – which saw enough merit in the complaints against the investigation to transfer the case – or the family grieving their daughter’s brutal rape and murder.

This is what the family said in its petition to the HC:

“Despite initial attempts by hospital and police officials to suppress evidence and mislead the investigation, public pressure led to a proper autopsy confirming rape and murder. Evidence suggests multiple perpetrators and a possible cover-up involving influential individuals, including the college Principal. The petitioners argue that the ongoing investigation by State authorities lacks impartiality and credibility due to conflicts of interest and suppression of evidence. They request an independent investigation, preservation of evidence, protection for witnesses, and immediate safety improvements at the hospital.”

Paragraph 10 of the petition filed by the family said they suspect their daughter was gang-raped.

The Calcutta police’s special investigation team that was probing the case before the Calcutta high court handed it over to the CBI had arrested only one person – a civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy. He had the privileges of a policeman, including a bike marked ‘Police’.

In his on-camera meltdown, Goyal said: “We have never said there is only one person. We said we are waiting for scientific evidence. It takes lot of time, when the accused is constantly saying one thing and we don’t have anything to support.”

Goyal said that misinformation has been spread in the case.

“Rumours have been spread,” he said repeatedly. “That bones were broken, this was done, that was done. Unfortunately, that is not supported by the scientific evidence.”

The family’s petition states:

“The petitioners were horrified to discover that at the time of recovery, there were no clothes on the lower part of their daughter’s body, and there were visible signs of severe torture. The condition of her body strongly suggested that she had been brutally raped and murdered. The petitioners observed multiple abrasions, bruises, and clear signs of a violent struggle, including bleeding from her vagina, lips, and eyes. These details contradicted the initial narrative of suicide presented by the hospital and police authorities.”

The petition states that their daughter’s body bore several injury marks.

“Except for a few portions of the skull, including the Temporal, Parietal, and Occipital regions, the rest of the head showed significant trauma. Both ears exhibited signs of injury, suggesting a violent struggle. Her lips were injured, indicating that she may have been silenced or gagged during the attack. Bite marks were found on her neck, further evidencing the severity of the assault. There was significant vaginal bleeding and injury marks, indicating sexual violence."

About the autopsy, this is what the family’s petition said: “The autopsy was conducted hastily. Improper autopsy was done with a view to shield the others involved in their daughter’s death.”

The division bench, led by Calcutta high court Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, also found the conduct of the authorities questionable:

“One more aspect, which is also quite disturbing is that a case of unnatural death has been registered with the Tala Police Station in Case No.161 of 2024 dated August 9, 2024. It is submitted that under normal circumstances, a case of unnatural death is registered when there is no complaint. 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 bench added:

“On or after August 9, 2024, prima facie there has been no significant progress as till date, the State police have not arrested any other person, who may be allegedly involved in the commission of the offence. 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. We had asked the learned Senior Standing Counsel as to whether the statement has been recorded from the Principal, the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendent. The reply at the time of hearing was that, no statement has been recorded.”

Police commissioner Goyal talked about the public’s trust in the police. This is what the court said on the subject:

“Public confidence would not connote the public in general alone but since the incident took place in the hospital, which is a Government Hospital, the patients, who are the public concerned should also feel safe and confident that appropriate action is being taken and the investigation proceeds in an appropriate manner and the culprits are brought to books.”

The massive participation of common people from all walks of life in Wednesday night’s protests that stretched across Bengal and even beyond had shades of the unrest in Bangladesh.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee – “who has more intelligence than journalists,” according to a veteran political pundit – has already uttered the name of India’s eastern neighbour while describing the RG Kar protests.

And that parallel is justified.

The protests expressed a people’s anger – not just over the horrific RG Kar rape and murder but over a system that allows such brutalities to go unpunished; that allows impunity for a section of people because of their political hue.

Again, this is not a social media or malicious media campaign. This is what the family of the victim said in its petition:

“Petitioners state that it is widely known within the medical community that the said Principal has close ties with leaders of the ruling political party. This proximity has allowed him to exert considerable influence, even to the extent of hijacking their daughter’s body with the assistance of the police. The intent behind this was to expedite the cremation process, thereby removing and/or destroying any further evidence that may have been missed during the autopsy. This conduct has only served to deepen the petitioners' suspicion that there is a deliberate attempt to cover up the true circumstances of their daughter’s death.”

Police commissioner Goyal saw malicious propaganda against his force.

But the people have seen the real malice live on TV – goons so unafraid of the law that they did not even bother to cover their faces as they went about their effort to tarnish a people’s protest that is extraordinary even for Calcutta and Bengal, which have seen massive agitations before.

(This story has been revised after the police clarified certain aspects of the case.)