Amid the mounting outrage over the alleged rape and murder of a medic in Kolkata, the Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the case and will take it up on August 20, even as junior doctors in some states, including West Bengal and Delhi, remained off duty on Sunday disrupting healthcare services.
In Kolkata, Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, appeared before the CBI on the third consecutive day and was asked to furnish details of the phone calls he made before, and after the incident at the hospital, an officer of the central probe agency said.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police on Sunday summoned TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, hours after he demanded that the CBI interrogate Kolkata police commissioner. The police have also issued summonses to former BJP MP Locket Chatterjee and two renowned doctors for allegedly spreading rumours and disclosing the identity of the victim.
The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident, amid the nationwide protests.
According to the cause list of August 20 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear on Tuesday a matter titled ‘In Re: Alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata and related issue’.
The grieving parents of the victim have criticised the West Bengal government for attempting to stifle the public outcry despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s protests against the incident.
The parents also voiced concerns about the handling of their daughter’s body, alleging that it was not in the same condition initially as it was found in the seminar hall of the facility, hours after the incident.
“We decry any bid to muzzle the voice of the people, to stop the movement for justice as not one person is involved in the incident. We hope the CBI probe will unravel the truth,” the father told reporters in North 24 Parganas district on Saturday.
When asked about the condition in which they found their daughter’s body, the parents shared troubling details. The mother said, “We were told by some people that there was no cloth on some part of the body.”
In West Bengal, healthcare services remained affected across the state for the tenth consecutive day as agitating junior doctors at state-run hospitals continued their cease-work demanding justice for the victim.
As the outpatient departments (OPDs) at government hospitals are closed on Sundays, the rush was less even as senior doctors were attending the emergency department to provide treatment to the visiting patients.
“…We will continue with our protest till our sister gets justice and the government arranges total security for us,” an agitating doctor told PTI.
In the national capital, the resident doctors’ strike at several government hospitals entered its seventh day.
The protesting doctors have been demanding justice for the victim and a security act for medical personnel.
The Action Committee for the Central Protection Act, representing all resident welfare associations (RDAs) of Delhi, announced after a meeting on Sunday the continuation of the strike, citing unresolved safety concerns for healthcare professionals.
The decision comes in response to what they deem inadequate assurances from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) following the tragic incident at the state-run Kolkata hospital.
The resident doctors’ association of AIIMS on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention for enactment of a central law via an ordinance to protect healthcare workers and institutions across the nation.
The AIIMS RDA also drew the prime minister’s attention to the subsequent vandalism at the state-run Kolkata hospital and the “worrying rise in violence against doctors, healthcare workers, and medical institutions” across the country.
In Goa, medical services at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital in Panaji remained affected for the third consecutive day on Sunday, with resident doctors resolving against withdrawing the indefinite strike, which began Friday, till the Calcutta High Court delivers verdict in the rape-murder case.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Medical Association announced that it has ended its 24-hour strike that started on Saturday.
Ghosh, the former principal of the hospital, who was grilled by CBI officers for over 13 hours on Saturday, reached the agency’s office at CGO Complex in Salt Lake at 11 am on Sunday.
“We have a list of questions for him,” the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer told PTI.
The Kolkata Police on Sunday summoned TMC MP Roy, who called upon the CBI to act fairly and demanded the custodial interrogation of former principal of the medical establishment and the police commissioner to know “who and why floated the suicide story”.
Roy was asked to appear before officers of the Kolkata Police at its headquarters in Lalbazar at 4 pm on Sunday for allegedly posting wrong information regarding the incident, a police source said.
Police also issued summonses to former BJP MP Locket Chatterjee and two renowned doctors — Dr Kunal Sarkar and Dr Subarna Goswami — for allegedly spreading rumours and disclosing the identity of the woman doctor who was raped and murdered at the hospital, an officer said.
Police have also issued summonses to 57 others for spreading wrong information about the incident, he said.
Dr Sarkar and Dr Goswami were issued summonses to appear before officers of the Kolkata Police at its headquarters in Lalbazar at 3 pm on Sunday, he added.
When contacted, renowned cardiologist Dr Sarkar said he has received the summons from the police.
“…But at the moment, I am out of town and have informed the Kolkata Police about that,” Sarkar told PTI.
However, Dr Goswami, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Purba Bardhaman district, said that he is yet to receive the summons.
Chatterjee, the former BJP MP of Hooghly constituency, also said she has not received any summons yet.
Meanwhile, supporters of arch-rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan gathered near the Salt Lake stadium, the venue of the cancelled Kolkata Derby, on Sunday evening in a rare show of camaraderie to protest the medic’s rape-murder incident.
Over a hundred supporters of the two clubs initially gathered outside the stadium with placards and posters even as a Durand Cup match between the two most-followed football clubs of the country was cancelled with police citing concerns over the law and order situation.
Supporters of the Mohammedan SC, another major football club, also joined the protests a while later.
The Union Home Ministry has asked all state police forces to provide it situation reports every two hours in the wake of protests by doctors, nursing staff and others over the Kolkata incident.
In a communication to the state police forces, the home ministry said that the law and order situation of all states should be monitored in view of the protests.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has announced a slew of measures to ensure the safety of women in workplaces, particularly at state-run hospitals, where they have to work on night shifts, too, including designated retiring rooms and CCTV-monitored ‘safe zones’.
Chief Advisor to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Alapan Bandyopadhyay, announced the measures during a press meet here on Saturday, amid continuing protests by doctors across the state over the medic’s rape-murder.
Expressing anguish over the incident, over 70 Padma awardee doctors have written to Prime Minister Modi demanding quick enactment of a special law to deal with violence against healthcare personnel and implementation of improved safety protocols in medical facilities.
On August 9, the body of the postgraduate trainee doctor was found in the seminar hall of the state-run hospital in Kolkata. A civic volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime the next day. Later, the Calcutta High Court handed over the case to the CBI.(PTI)
