On Friday (August 16), chief minister Mamata Banerjee led a rally demanding justice for the doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last week. The institution is overseen by Banerjee as health minister, while law and order fall under her purview as well since she is also the state’s home minister. Protesters may see this as dystopian but it’s the reality in West Bengal.
Banerjee has questioned how such a violent crime could occur in a state-run hospital and why the doctor’s absence went unnoticed until the morning. These are the very same questions protesters on the streets have been asking since the day of the incident. There are also several pressing questions that demand answers from the state government, health department, and police – all directly under her purview.
Question 1: The doctor’s body had eleven wounds, and her lower body was uncovered. Why did hospital authorities tell her parents it was a suicide?
This question is perplexing to everyone. In a video interview with Lallantop, a relative who accompanied the parents to the hospital claimed that the doctor was found with her legs grotesquely spread 90 degrees apart. The Wire has access to the photographs of the crime scene and can confirm this claim to be true. The parents received two calls from the assistant superintendent of RG Kar Hospital. In the first call, they were urgently summoned to the campus under the pretext of their daughter’s sudden illness. Subsequently they were told that she had died by suicide.
Question 2: Why did the family have to beg the police to let them see their child’s body?
In an interview with a local channel, the victim’s mother disclosed that they had to plead with the police to see their daughter’s face. Although the police have denied this claim, both the victim’s mother and a relative insisted they were kept waiting for hours at the hospital before being allowed to view the body. According to the victim’s mother, no senior hospital official met with them while they waited in the chest department. The police have yet to address these allegations. While Kolkata Police have taken action against several social media users for claiming the victim’s car was damaged a day before the incident, they have not responded to the mother’s claim on ABP Ananda that the police tried to damage the car while forcing them off the premises.
Question 3: Have the police sent any notice to the then principal Sandeep Ghosh for mentioning the victim’s name in a press conference?
In a melodramatic press conference, Sandeep Ghosh, the then Principal of RG Kar, mentioned the doctor’s name nine times, despite it being prohibited by law. While Kolkata Police have issued over 200 notices to individuals for their social media posts and filed multiple FIRs, it remains unclear whether Ghosh faced any consequences for disclosing the victim’s identity.
Question 4: Despite workplace violence and charges of corruption, why was Dr Sandeep Ghosh rewarded by the state government?
This question has perplexed even the Kolkata high court. Accused of widespread corruption, misconduct, and creating a hostile work environment, Ghosh has maintained a powerful position due to his alleged close ties to the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Despite a former colleague’s detailed complaint to the State Vigilance Commission about serious irregularities, including financial misconduct, no action was taken against him. Instead, the whistleblower, Akhtar Ali, was transferred from the hospital.
Describing Ghosh as a “mafia don”, Ali has now publicly claimed that Ghosh extorted money from students, manipulated tender processes and fostered a culture of intimidation.
Ghosh had been transferred twice before, yet, miraculously reinstated as principal of RG Kar Hospital. His recent “resignation” was met with a new appointment as principal of the National Medical College, only to be halted by the Calcutta high court. The HC chief justice has openly criticised the government’s protection of Ghosh, observing, “Your client is a powerful person. The state is with him. Whenever he will seek protection, police will provide it. If he wants a force of 500, 500 policemen will reach his residence for his protection. So, ask him to seek protection from the police.”
Question 5: Why were renovations initiated in the hospital’s chest department even as an investigation was underway?
Just as the CBI took over the case on Wednesday, images surfaced online showing renovation work underway in the same department where the young doctor’s body was found. A room and a nearby women’s restroom, located close to the crime scene, were demolished to create a new rest area. According to a report in the Indian Express, the order to demolish the room and toilet was issued on Saturday, barely two days after the incident. While the hospital claims to be responding to students’ demands, the timing of the renovation appears highly suspicious.
The identity of those behind the mob attack on RG Kar Hospital during the ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest also remains shrouded in mystery. While Banerjee blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of Indian (Marxist) for the vandalism, media reports suggest that some attackers identified in CCTV footage have links to Trinamool Congress councillors.
Kolkata Police on Thursday took to social media to clarify that the seminar hall at RG Kar Hospital was undamaged and no evidence was tampered with during the recent attack. However, medical students at the hospital contend that the attackers specifically targeted the Emergency building, which also houses the chest department. A viral meme circulating on social media suggests a possible reason for the confusion, implying that the attackers may have mistaken the third floor for a three-story building and vandalised that level instead.
Nurses on duty claim to have received no assistance from police or hospital authorities during the attack. However, the Kolkata Police Commissioner dismissed these claims as a malicious media campaign.
The absurdity doesn’t end there. The chief minister demanded a swift CBI investigation and capital punishment for the culprit by Sunday, just five days after the central agency took over the case.
On Friday, as the state faced unprecedented protests by doctors and citizens, Banerjee led a rally to mark “Khela Hobe (Game on) Divas”. Surrounded by celebrity MLAs and MPs who initially maintained radio silence, she reminded the audience in her speech that doctors are supposed to check on patients every hour. It remains unclear whether she was expressing frustration over the female doctor’s decision to rest after a 36-hour shift or the hospital staff’s failure to monitor her regularly.
On social media, TMC spokespeople have been castigating Bollywood celebrities for criticising the RG Kar incident, questioning their silence on cases like Hathras, Kathua, or Bilkis Bano. Ironically, many of these celebrities did speak up about Kathua and faced backlash from right-wing trolls.
In her speech, Banerjee also mentioned heinous crimes that occurred in BJP-ruled states as well as those during the Left’s rule. From the 1990 Bantala rape case to the 2023 Manipur incident and the 2020 Hathras gangrape, she cited many cases but forgot to mention the Kamduni case, where several key accused were acquitted due to the state’s failure to prove conspiracy, and the Hanskhali case, where she questioned whether the minor girl who was raped and killed had been involved in an affair. Interestingly, the defence counsel in the Kamduni case, while arguing for a CBI investigation in the RG Kar case, accused current Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, then IG (CID), of botching the investigation.
The state government on Friday issued transfer orders for 42 doctors. While the state maintains these are routine transfers, junior doctors allege that seniors who supported the protests have been reassigned from premier institutions to remote areas like North Bengal and Jhargram, regarded as punishment postings.
(This article was published in The Wire)
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