On a day when a key suspect of the evidence tampering case in the rape-murder of the RG Kar hospital medic walked on account of the CBI’s failure to file a timely chargesheet, the West Bengal Police secured capital punishment for a convict of a similar crime on a minor and life imprisonment for his accomplice.

This was the second such success of the state police inside a week, after it secured death sentence for a 19-year-old man for raping and murdering a 10-year-old school student in Joynagar’s Kultali in South 24 Parganas district on December 6.

Conviction and sentencing of the Farakka and Kultali cases were completed in about two months, leading Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to laud the achievements of both police and justice system in the state for wrapping up air-tight investigations, and delivering speedy justice to the victims’ kin by awarding harshest punishments to the guilty.

In a sharp distinction, though, the Sealdah court in Kolkata on Friday granted bail to former officer-in-charge of Tala police station Abhijit Mondal and RG Kar hospital ex-principal Sandip Ghosh in evidence tampering charges of the on-duty medic’s rape and murder after the CBI, which is investigating the case on a Calcutta High Court order, couldn’t file chargesheet against them within the mandatory 90-day period, a lawyer representing Ghosh said.

While Mondal was accused of alleged delay in filing of FIR in the case, Ghosh was charged with tampering of evidence.

Mondal's lawyer told reporters outside the court that he will walk out of the correctional home where he is incarcerated on judicial remand.

Ghosh, who is on judicial remand in another case of alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar hospital, will, however, remain behind bars despite being granted bail in the rape-murder case.

The failure to file the chargesheet has led certain sections to question whether the agency ever had solid grounds to arrest the accused and detain them behind bars for nearly four months, like it has been claiming before courts so far.

The central probe agency, though, has filed a chargesheet against the prime accused, Sanjay Roy, in the rape-murder case.

Adding to the angst of the parents of the RG Kar hospital victim, Friday’s developments led them to state they were heartbroken with the two key suspects in the case getting bail, and that it seemed like the "system" was failing them.

"We thought the CBI would speed up the investigation and bring those responsible to justice. But now, with the accused being granted bail, it feels like the system is failing us," said the mother of the medic, whose body was found in the hospital on August 9.

"Every day, we wonder if this will be another case in which the powerful escape without punishment," she added.

The rape and murder of the on-duty doctor shocked the state, leading to never-seen-before protests across West Bengal.

"We are heartbroken. We trusted the CBI to deliver justice, but now we are left wondering if we will ever see justice for our daughter," said the victim's father.

Both the Kultali and Farakka crimes were committed at a time when unprecedented agitations were rocking the state in protest against the RG Kar hospital incident.

In the Farakka case verdict, the sentence of death awarded by the additional sessions judge, Jangipur court, to Dinabandhu Halder and life term to Subhojit Halder in the rape and murder of a minor girl and committing of necrophilia came on the 61st day of the crime.

Investigation in the case was completed and a chargesheet submitted by the police in 21 days.

The court had on Thursday declared Dinabandhu guilty of rape and murder, and Subhojit of assisting him in the crime.

Following the pronouncement of the sentence on Friday, Additional Director General (ADG), West Bengal Police, Supratim Sarkar said that Dinabandhu had lured the girl, offering her flowers on Vijaya Dashami on October 13 at Farakka in Murshidabad district.

She was raped and murdered, and rape was committed on her dead body again thereafter, which is termed necrophilia, by Dinabandhu and he was assisted in the crime by Subhojit, the officer told reporters.

Hailing the sentence, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that every rapist deserves capital punishment.

"I have said this before, and I will say it again: Every rapist deserves nothing less than the harshest punishment — capital punishment.

"As a society, we must unite to eradicate this heinous social malice. I believe that swift, time-bound trials and punishments will serve as a powerful deterrent, sending a clear message that such crimes will not be tolerated," she said in a post on X.

Barely a week ago, the district sessions court of South 24 Parganas had awarded another death sentence to a man for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl at Joynagar.

The sentence to Mostakin Sardar on December 6 was awarded on the 62nd day after the body of the girl was discovered on October 4.

Expressing disappointment with the “sluggish pace of CBI investigation” in the RG Kar hospital crime cases, junior doctors in Kolkata resolved to chart their next course of action in their continuing fight for justice.

“The accused have been allowed to go free due to the sluggishness of the investigation. This delay in justice is a slap in the face of all those who have been fighting for accountability," Aniket Mahato, a junior doctor at the hospital, said.

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