A week into the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Metro compiled what is known so far and the many questions to which there is no clear answer yet:

When was the first investigation launched and by whom?

The young doctor’s body was found in a seminar room around 10.10am on August 9. Tala police station was informed. Officers from the police station reached the spot, followed by a team from the homicide wing of Kolkata Police’s detective department. A probe into the unnatural death was initiated immediately, the police said.

Is it true Kolkata Police began the probe believing it to be death by suicide?

No. An unnatural death (UD) case was started. “It (starting an unnatural death case) is logical and also a practice that we take complaints from a family member. They were available. They might have something to say about this case. The complaint was taken from the family member and a case was started. UD (unnatural death) case does not delay the investigation,” Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal said on Friday.

Did the police try to dilute the case by starting an “unnatural death” case?

“(Registering a) UD case is a natural process. Murder is an unnatural death. You have to do an inquest, which is preceded by an UD case. I don’t see why it is being spread that by starting a UD case we wanted to hush up the matter and make it look like a suicide case. There is a 174 CrPC section of the law. Now (in) BNS there is a corresponding section. There is no hushing up,” Goyal explained.

Did the police tell the family it was suicide?

Goyal said: “Why is this impression being created that UD case necessarily means it is a case of suicide? It is not true. The entire population is being made to understand
that UD case means suicide, (that) we wanted to make it a case of suicide. It is not true. You must consult legal experts. Go through the section of law. Please don’t spread
rumours.”

The additional commissioner of police (I), Murlidhar, said “no such message went to the family from police”.

When was it established that it was a case of rape and murder and by who?

The police said injury marks on the body suggested torture. “The forensic examination of the body and the samples collected from the body showed signs of torture. By evening (of August 9) it was clear that the woman had been murdered. The cause of the death and rape came out in the post-mortem later at night (on August 9),” said an officer. Kolkata Police registered a case under sections of rape and murder that night.

How many police personnel were transferred/removed from the case/investigation before it was handed to the CBI?

One. An assistant commissioner of Kolkata Police who was posted in the north division, under whose jurisdiction is the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was removed. The transfer was triggered by demands from junior doctors.

What does the scene of crime look like?

The seminar room where the crime was committed is air-conditioned. The room has a white board and chairs arranged for classes. Some of the chairs were wooden while some had red cushions on them. There is also a wooden podium which is used as a stage when events are organised in the room. There was at least one medical bed in the room. The woman’s body was found lying on a mattress on the wooden podium. A plastic water bottle, a broken spectacle, a surgical mask, a laptop, a notebook and a mobile phone were found near the body.

When was the scene of crime scanned for evidence and sealed?

The investigation started on Friday morning. The crime scene was cordoned off immediately after the police arrived, an officer said. The room was sealed in the evening after the body was shifted to the hospital morgue for post-mortem.

What are the key pieces of evidence from the scene of crime?

• Kolkata Police said they seized an earphone from near the body. The police said that during CCTV analysis they found that Sanjay Roy — the accused who was arrested on August 10 — was seen with earplugs while entering the seminar room. The earplugs were missing when he came out, the police said.
• A hard disk containing the CCTV footage that police said showed Roy’s presence near the seminar room on the morning of the incident.
• A broken spectacle, believed to be that of the woman.
• The woman’s dress and the bed sheet on which she was found dead (they have been sent to Central Forensic Science Laboratory).
• Body fluids and suspected human cells found in hernails (sent to the forensiclaboratory).

The forensic tests have yet to be concluded.

What is the cause of death?

Manual strangulation, the police said.

Who has custody of the scene of crime and evidence now?

Kolkata Police have handed all evidence they collected to the CBI. The crime scene — a room on the third floor of the building housing the emergency department — was sealed by the police. Cops from the city force are on guard outside but CBI sleuths have access to the room.

Has the CBI found more evidence?

CBI officers did not formally say anything till Friday evening.

Who has custody of the case file/diary?

The CBI.

Who has custody of the suspect? Where is he being kept?

The CBI. Roy is now in the CBI lock-up at the CGO (central government office) Complex in Salt Lake.

Could there have been more than one person involved in the crime?

Kolkata Police said the number of people involved could be ascertained only through evidence like seminal fluids found on the woman. “The reports have yet to come,” said an officer.

What are the indications that more than one person might have been involved in the crime?

It is not easy for one man to overpower an adult woman, violate her and smother or strangulate her. It is especially difficult in a work environment where many others could be around at the time.

No one has yet reported hearing screams or other sounds suggesting a tussle.

What are some of the unfounded aspects of the case that have found their way into media/social media?

The most circulated unverified information are:

• At least two samples of seminal fluids have been found, proving the presence of more than one perpetrator.

Police response: “The forensic reports, the DNA sampling, everything has been done. We had sent them to CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) to get the report at the earliest,” police commissioner Goyal said on Friday.

• The victim’s collar bone and pelvic bones were fractured, proving brutality that again suggests the role of multiple attackers.

Police response: An additional commissioner of police said the post-mortem report showed no fractures.

• The body was hurriedly sent for cremation by thepolice.

Police response: ”The inquest was done in the presence of a judicial magistrate. It was videographed. The FSL (forensic science laboratory) team had come, all evidence was collected under videography in the presence of parents, family members and students,” Goyal said.

“There was a three-member team that was doing the post-mortem, which was under videography. The entire videography is available with the CBI. They can have a look at it,” Goyal said.

• The seminar room where the woman was raped and murdered was damaged during renovation work.

Police response: The room is intact and sealed with police guarding the place.

• 150g seminal fluid has been found indicating involvement of more than one person.

Police response: “Somebody said 150g of semen has been found. I don’t know from where they found this kind of information. And it is circulating in the media of all forms. People are now trying to believe it, they are trying to create confusion among the people,” Goyal said.

• The police are trying to shield the son of a Trinamool Congress leader.

Police response: “These are young boys, talented boys. I cannot arrest them just because he was present at that particular place on duty. Some people are using the surname as Mahapatra, connecting it to some political Mahapatra and trying to mix these issues and spread rumours that just because they are very influential people, they are being protected. That is not true. We had no intent to protect anyone. We were just looking for evidence,” the top cop said on Friday.

• Police tried to tamper with the evidence.

Police response: “The allegations are baseless. If any police officer is found to have tampered with evidence, we could be held responsible.... Complete transparency has been maintained. There is nothing to hide,” said a senior police officer.

• The woman’s parents were not allowed to see the body for three hours.

According to the submission made by the state in the court, the parents of the victim arrived at the hospital around 1pm on August 9. “Since the incident happened in the seminar room, the forensic team was examining the seminar room. It is admitted that commotion occurred since the parents of the victimwere not allowed to see the body of their daughter and at 1.10pm the parents were given access into the seminar hall and it is false, as submitted by the State that they were made to wait for three hours but written request made by the mother of the victim was acceded to and the Judicial Magistrate was present when the Inquest was conducted and two lady doctors were also present. Thereafter,the father gave a demand in writing at 3.55pm. The Inquest Report, which was recorded was signed by the motherof the victim,” a court order read.