Rape and murder of Kolkata trainee doctor: Key developments since the crime fired up the nation

The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) on Monday announced to shut down elective services in hospitals across India in solidarity with the prostesting resident doctors of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where a 31-year-old trainee lady doctor was raped and murdered during her night shift last week.

A civic volunteer of the police has been arrested in connection with the rape and murder of the doctor even as angry protests continued over demand of security of the doctors, the disclosure of full truth in the henious crime and safety of women in general.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal assured if more people are found to be involved in the crime they would be arrested in the next couple of days.

“We are sure that if more people are involved, we will be able to arrest them in the next four to five days. Despite that, if the family is not satisfied, what Madam (Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) said will happen (handing over the case to CBI),” the Kolkata cop was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Faced with the anger of the people and the threat of a long protest, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has agreed to hand over the case to India’s federal investigating agency CBI if the city police failed to resolve it.

The rape and murder triggered nationwide condemnation and doctors demanded justice as the civil society came out on the streets and planned a night vigil to make the city safe for women.

Highlights of the gruesome crime and its aftermath

· The semi-nude body of a trainee doctor was found under mysterious circumstances in the seminar hall of state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in the Shyambazar area in north Kolkata on August 9.

· An initial autopsy report showed the woman was sexually assaulted before she was murdered. The autopsy report said the woman was bleeding from her eyes, nose and private part. Her neck was also found to be broken and injuries were found in other parts of the victim’s body.

· The victim’s father alleged they were initially told by the hospital authorities that their daughter had committed suicide. What were they trying to hide? he asked.

· One of the key accused in the case was arrested by the police. He was identified as Sanjoy Roy. He worked as a civil volunteer (usually recruited from among the cadres of the ruling Trinamool Congress party) with the Kolkata Police and was not an employee of the hospital. However, reports suggested that he had free access to the hospital.

• The accused was also reportedly part of a racket in the state-run hospital that charged patients’ relatives for ensuring admission. He also charged money from family members of patients for arranging beds in nursing homes if they failed to find a bed in the hospital.

• The accused allegedly showed no remorse during interrogation. “Hang me if you want,” he reportedly told the police. Some media reports claimed he went home after the crime and washed his clothes to destroy evidence. However, police found blood stains on his shoes.

· After the tragedy came to light, doctors and their organisations across the country have started a massive protest demanding justice for their colleague. Hospital services in West Bengal are badly hit since trainee doctors, interns and doctors are currently on a strike for the fourth consecutive day.

• Doctors across several hospitals in Delhi have begun an indefinite strike halting all elective services from Monday. Doctors and students of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Delhi demonstrated in the national capital on Sunday.

· Amid protests, Dr Sandip Ghosh, the principal of RG Kar Medical College, resigned on Monday. However, the junior doctors, who are leading the protests, want a written resignation from Ghosh.

· West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called the rape and murder of a trainee doctor “inhuman and deplorable crime” and said she has no objection to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident if local police failed to crack it by Sunday.