Protests return to Kolkata after accused in R. G. Kar rape and murder case granted bail

Left parties and Congress protest in Kolkata against CBI’s failure to deliver justice in doctor’s rape-murder case

Protest rallies and demonstrations demanding justice for the doctor raped and murdered at R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital returned to Kolkata on Saturday (December 14, 2024), a day after a court granted bail to two accused in the case.

Junior doctors, under the banner of West Bengal Junior Doctors Front (WBJDF), took out a rally from Karunamayee to CGO Complex in Salt Lake area, where the office of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is located.

The parents of the trainee doctor joined the rally and blamed the CBI for the bail granted to the former principal of the hospital Sandip Ghosh and ex-officer in-charge of the Tala police station Abhijit Mondal.

“We have to remain on the streets to ensure justice. As long as the people were protesting, the CBI was working properly. The moment we withdrew from protests, the CBI started slacking,” the father of the deceased doctor said. The mother urged protesters not to lose hope and continue with the protests. “We have to snatch justice, so let us not lose hope and continue with the protest,” she said.

Doctors who participated in the march expressed surprise at the CBI not filing a chargesheet 90 days after the arrests. “If the CBI did not have evidence against the accused, why did it arrest them in the first case? Why are they playing with sentiments,” asked Debasish Halder, one of the key members of WBJDF.

The Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sealdah, on Friday (December 13, 2024) granted bail to both the accused who were arrested on charges of tampering with the evidence in the case. Not only the junior doctors, but supporters of SUCI (Communist), Congress and SFI activists, the students’ wing of the CPI(M), brought out rallies in the city.

State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar said the bail was a result of a “setting between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP government”. The Joint Platform of Doctors has called for another rally on Sunday (December 14, 2024) to protest against the bail.

Minister wants police to probe case

West Bengal Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Firhad Hakim said that the investigation in the R. G. Kar case should be transferred from the CBI to West Bengal police.

Mr. Hakim said that in cases of sexual assault, the West Bengal police, through investigation by Special Investigation Team, have ensured punishment in two months, whereas “only politics” is going on in the R. G. Kar case and in the name of probe the Trinamool is being targeted. The Trinamool leader was referring to capital punishments awarded by courts in Bengal in the rape and murder of minors at Kultali and Farakka.

The body of the trainee doctor was recovered at a seminar room of the R.G. Kar hospital on August 9 and the prime accused, Sanjay Roy, was arrested by Kolkata Police in a day. The CBI had filed a chargesheet against the prime accused in the rape and murder case on October 7. Roy, a civic police volunteer, has been charged with rape and murder.

On December 10, the CBI had told the Supreme Court that it would file a supplementary chargesheet in the case. However, in the absence of any chargesheet against Ghosh and Mondal more than 90 days after their arrests, the Sealdah court on Friday (December 13, 2024) granted them bail. 

Published - December 14, 2024 05:57 pm IST