PUCL Moves High Court Over Rape-Murder Of Trainee Doctor At Kolkata Hospital, Seeks State's Report On Compliance With POSH Norms

The People's Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL) has approached the Calcutta High Court over the incident of the brutal rape and murder of a 2nd year PG Medical student on the RG Kar College and Hospital campus in Kolkata after she had finished her night shift.The petition moved by Advocate Jhuma Sen prays for a court-monitored investigation into the brutal rape and murder and seeks a compliance report on the part of the West Bengal government in implementing the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH), following the directions by the Supreme Court in Aureliano Fernandes Vs State of Goa & Ors, amongst others.According to the plea, the issue of institutional accountability also needs to be highlighted. It states that the role of the Principal and other authorities in R G Kar Medical College and Hospital and the other institutions need to be thoroughly investigated. Notably, the High Court had flagged the principal's conduct in the aftermath of the incident, as well as his immediate reappointment as the head of another medical college hours after submitting his resignation from RG Kar. The court labelled these occurrences as "suspicious" and directed the principal to go on indefinite leave till further orders.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.

PUCL Moves High Court Over Rape-Murder Of Trainee Doctor At Kolkata Hospital, Seeks State's Report On Compliance With POSH Norms

Srinjoy Das

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