RG Kar Hospital Rape-Murder: Plea In Calcutta High Court Flags State Govt's SIT Probe Into Ex-Principal, Calls It An "Eyewash"

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday took up a matter on the incident of rape and murder of a resident doctor at RG Kar medical hospital in Kolkata. The incident was followed by widespread vandalism of the hospital which occurred on a night of protest against the incident on 14th August.Earlier, the High Court had transferred the probe into the rape and murder to the CBI. Subsequently, the matter was taken up suo-moto by the Supreme Court bench presided over by CJI DY Chandrachud, which ordered for the hospital to be guarded by CISF personnel to ensure that the doctors can safely return to work.During today's hearing, the court took note of the directions passed by the Supreme Court, including to ensure that the identity and photos of the victim were not circulated on social media, as well as for security at RG Kar hospital, and a task force to look into instances of sexual violence against medical professionals.Several petitioners mentioned intervention applications, including a plea flagging the state government's constitution of an SIT to probe Sandip Ghosh, the ex-principal of the college for various offences including irregularities in the tender process, etc.Another plea was mentioned seeking the court's indulgence to determine whether the violence which occurred at the hospital on 14th August was orchestrated on the instruction of "somebody."In the backdrop of the Supreme Court's cognizance of the issue, the Bench stated that the matter be listed on 4th September, after the Supreme Court had heard the issues.BackgroundRG Kar hospital has been the scene of a gruesome rape and murder of a 2nd Year PG medical student, last week, leading to mammoth protests across the country. The High Court had transferred the probe into the doctor's rape and murder to the CBI, which had just begun its investigation a day before the vandalism occurred.The High Court transferred the investigation into the gruesome incident to the CBI, upon noting that the state police had not been proactive in the investigation of the incident and the state administration was not "with the victim or her parents."A division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya were hearing multiple pleas, including one by the parents of the victim seeking transfer of investigation to an independent agency. In expressing concerns over the progress of the investigation under the state police.After a preliminary investigation, the Kolkata Police had arrested a 'civic volunteer' who worked with the local police force. This arrest has been termed as a cover-up, with the counsel claiming that the state police's investigation had been faulty and they were trying to make a scapegoat out of the accused in an attempt to cover up the real facts.The parents of the deceased were represented by Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who submitted that they initially received a phone call claiming that she had fallen sick and upon reaching the college were told that she had committed suicide, but were not allowed to see her body for up to three hours while waiting there.The court expressed concern over the fact that the case was registered by the police as an unnatural death and remarked that the principal or authorities of the college had not done anything in their power to aid in the probe. It thus directed for the principal to be placed on indefinite leave till further orders.In noting that a report could be called for by the state police under normal circumstances, the court noted the peculiar nature of the facts in this case and acceded to the parents' prayer that any further delay would lead to the destruction of evidence.

RG Kar Hospital Rape-Murder: Plea In Calcutta High Court Flags State Govt's SIT Probe Into Ex-Principal, Calls It An "Eyewash"

Srinjoy Das

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