Kolkata Doctor Death Case: West Bengal Govt removes Suhrita Paul, Appoints Prof Manas Kumar Bandopadhyay as new Principal

Kolkata: Only a week after Prof Suhrita Paul was appointed as the principal of RG Kar Medical College Hospital, the West Bengal Health Department recently removed her from the position and transferred her to Barasat Government Medical College and Hospital as the new principal. Following this, Professor Manas Kumar Bandopadhyay has been appointed as the new principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

This move by the government comes in response to a meeting that was held between a delegation of students and officials at Swasthya Bhavan regarding the removal of Suhrita Paul.   

As per a TOI news report, Paul was dismissed following revelations that she had only attended the office at RG Kar for a single day since her appointment as principal. Over the past nine days, she conducted her work from Swasthya Bhavan, visiting RG Kar solely for a meeting with CISF officials regarding hospital security.

Also read- RG Kar Doctor rape-murder: Who is Dr Sandeep Ghosh? Former colleagues make host of allegations

Following this, a 35-strong delegation marched to the main gate of the health department's headquarters with a demand to meet the director of medical education. In response to the demands of the agitating doctors, the government gave in and sacked Paul from her position.   

A second-year PG student at RG Kar told TOI, "We are scared after the rape-murder of a colleague and the vandalism at our hospital. In these trying times, we attempted to flag our concerns several times, but the new principal, Suhrita Pal, didn't show up. If she has no willingness to even come to the institution, she better resign."

According to an order issued on Wednesday evening, Prof (Dr) Bulbul Mukhopadhyay, the Medical Superintendent and Vice Principal of the RG Kar hospital has been replaced by Saptarshi Chatterjee with immediate effect. In addition, RGKMCH's chest medicine department head Arunabha Datta Chaudhuri was also transferred to the Malda Medical College and Hospital.

Earlier, the Health Department cancelled the appointment of Prof Sandip Ghosh as the Principal of National Medical College & Hospital following the Calcutta High Court directive and appointed Paul on August 12. Ghosh was the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Ghosh resigned from the position of principal at RG Kar Medical College alleging that he was being defamed on social media platforms following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the hospital premises.

The rape and murder of the trainee doctor has sparked nationwide protests. The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the matter and constituted a National Task Force to recommend guidelines to ensure the safety of medical professionals. A CBI investigation into the matter is underway.

The top court said that it is deeply concerned about the safety of doctors across India. “If women cannot go to work and be safe, we are denying them the basic right to equality. We have to do something” the court said.

The top court also asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a status report on the status of the investigation in the rape case. Also, the court asked the West Bengal government to file a status report on the mob attack incident that took place at the RG Kar hospital on 15 August.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the half-naked body of the deceased RG Kar PG Respiratory Medicine medico was recovered from the seminar hall of the hospital on Friday morning. A preliminary autopsy report has indicated sexual abuse before she was killed. As per the inquest report, there was bleeding from the doctor's eyes and mouth, injury on the face and nails, bleeding from her genitals, and several other injury marks on different parts of her body. Soon after the news of this horrific incident came to light, doctors in Bengal and across the country started a massive protest demanding justice.

Also read- RG Kar Hospital's new Principal loses cool on protesters, says, ''Don't expect anything from me''