Bengal’s protesting medicos have decided to take the legal route in their quest for justice for the young postgraduate doctor who was brutally raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Thursday night.
The West Bengal Resident Doctors’ Association and West Bengal Doctors’ Forum have decided to file public interest litigation in the case. Another representative body of doctors from Delhi is also likely to knock on the Calcutta high court’s door. The high court is already scheduled to hear a few more prayers on the case on Tuesday.
“The former [RG Kar] principal Sandip Ghosh and those close to him at the hospital have hatched a conspiracy to hide facts,” Gargi Goswami. medico-legal adviser to the West Bengal Doctors’ Forum and a lawyer with Calcutta high court, told The Telegraph Online.
Ghosh, who had on Monday morning tendered his resignation as the principal of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital taking “moral responsibility,” was reinstated as principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital by the evening, according to a government notification.
“We suspect they are trying to tamper with the post-mortem report, which is why the details have not been made public,” Goswami said.
Calcutta police have refused to share the post-mortem report with representatives of the junior doctors, who have been on the streets demanding justice for their murdered colleague.
“If it is found that the post-mortem was manipulated or falsified, further legal action can be taken,” Goswami said, “Since the original report has not yet been shared with anyone else other than the family, the possibility of it being manipulated cannot be ruled out.”
The inquest report on Friday evening noted multiple injuries on the victim’s body including in her private parts, while her clothes were partially torn. Though the circumstantial evidence suggested rape and murder, the inquest report was silent on whether she was raped before or after her murder, or how she was killed.
“This is the first incident in independent India when an on-duty doctor at a state-run medical college and hospital was raped and murdered,” said Biplab Chandra, a Calcutta-based doctor and state general secretary of the Medical Service Centre, a national-level socio-medical non-profit voluntary organisation.
“The principal [Ghosh] and those close to him have been trying to keep RG Kar medical college out of bounds for protesters from other medical colleges. How can we be certain of a fair probe when the police and the medical college authorities are trying to bury the case?” Chandra alleged.
On Friday morning after the postgraduate trainee doctor’s body was discovered in a seminar hall of the chest department, the family members were initially told that the 31-year-old had died by suicide.
“We had demanded for a magisterial inquest but our demand was not met,” said Chandra. “We have been waiting for the post-mortem report. When our representatives went to meet the commissioner of police they were told they could have a glance at the document. Taking a cursory glance at the post-mortem will not help in any way. We are all medical professionals and need to study it thoroughly.”
The agitating junior doctors have questioned why the government has set a seven-day deadline to hand over the probe to CBI.
“Why is the CBI probe being delayed till Sunday? We are unhappy with the progress made by the Calcutta police,” said an agitating junior doctor who requested anonymity. “Our demands are clear. We want a judicial inquiry into the matter and capital punishment for the culprits. The deceased doctor’s family should be compensated. We also want the Calcutta police to apologise regarding some of the rumours that were spread.”
Soutaj Biswas, a postgraduate trainee at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, said the protesting students were being threatened and pressured to stay away from the movement.
“Interns are being threatened with suspension if they do not lift the ceasework.” Biswas alleged.
Calls and texts made to Ghosh went unanswered.
