RG Kar medico rape-murder case: Bengal Doctors' Forum advisor claims 'She knew too much and was silenced'
Kolkata: In a brutal rape-murder case that has sent shockwaves through West Bengal and the entire nation since August 9, new revelations and claims have emerged surrounding the tragic death of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College Hospital.
The young doctor, whose body was discovered in a seminar hall on August 9 after being allegedly raped and murdered, once considered a suspicion has only deepened over time as more details came to light.
Claiming that she 'knew too much and was silenced', West Bengal Doctors' Forum advisor Dr Koushik Lahiri has raised serious concerns about the handling of the case.
In an exclusive conversation with HT on Sunday, Dr Lahiri said, "She always tried to share what she was facing. She was not the only one. Many young and senior doctors are exposed to the same kind of offences. Most of them are silenced. The silence is also violence. This girl tried to break her silence."
Medical dialogues have been extensively reporting the matters related to the unfortunate death of the doctor at RG Kar Medical College Hospital since August 9 after her half-naked body was recovered from the seminar hall of the hospital. A preliminary autopsy report had 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. The civic volunteer in connection with this case was arrested the next day on August 10 after police found a Bluetooth device at the scene and his presence on the CCTV.
The exclusive footage of the accused, a civic volunteer captured in the hospital's CCTV offered critical evidence. According to the viral footage, the accused was seen entering the fourth floor of the hospital at 4.03 am on August 9 heading towards the seminar room where the female doctor was allegedly raped and murdered, as reported by Medical Dialogues a few days ago.
Soon after the news of this horrific incident came to light, doctors across the country started a massive protest demanding justice. Although doctors from most of the state called off the strike after an appeal by the Supreme Court and assurances from the central government over their safety at all hospitals, resident doctors of RG Kar Hospital are still protesting for justice of the doctor.
Speaking about her death, Dr Lahiri said, "It is painful and shameful to discuss what happened on August 9, the morning the body of the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was found in the hospital's seminar hall."
"A 31-year-old postgraduate student at department of chest and pulmonology at RG Kar was found in a horrific condition, obviously raped and murdered, on August 9. After this, what happened is baffling and absolutely unbelievable. At 10:10 am, the Tala Police Station was informed that someone was found unconscious at RG Kar Hospital. This is a question mark on ‘unconscious’. Who is reporting this,” he added.
Further, he said, “At 10:50, someone introduced self as deputy super called the father of the deceased to inform him that his daughter had committed suicide. By the time, they already knew that it was not a case of suicide. This is absolutely unthinkable. At 11:30, one general diary was filed and again this is on confusion. The Chief Justice of India asked whether it was an unnatural death (UD) case,” he added.
“UD case pertains to unnatural death which is actually an unclaimed body. Suppose there is a train or road accident, there is a body which is unclaimed or nobody knows the identity of the deceased. In such situation, the police files a UD case. Mr Sibal is saying that UD case was filed at 1:47 pm. It is more suspicious that why at 1:47 this case was filed," the doctor added.
Medical Dialogues recently reported that the devastated parents received the news of their daughter's death—a PG trainee doctor in the chest medicine department at RG Kar Medical College Hospital—through three phone calls that went viral.
Three purported audio recordings of phone calls allegedly made by the assistant superintendent of RG Kar Medical College on August 9 morning emerged on social media a few days ago. In these recordings, the assistant superintendent could be heard requesting the parents of the deceased doctor to come to the hospital immediately.
The caller, a woman who identified herself as the assistant superintendent of the hospital, reportedly dialled the parents of the victim from the same number thrice within around 30 minutes asking for their urgent presence at the facility.
Dr Lahiri further alleged that the doctor's parents were informed and made to sit for three hours at the hospital for no reason. “Everyone was allowed to look at the body except for the parents. Between 6:10 and 7:10, the postmortem was carried out. Autopsy is rarely done after sunset after 2023. It is in the rule, and you can do that in a government setup. But if you ask any senior doctors or lawyer, this is not the norm,” he added.
Dr Lahiri further claimed that "At 8:30 pm, the body was cremated. Very recently, we learned that all the signatures were done by some political leader of the locality and not by the parent. Even more dangerous and unbelievable is the fact that the FIR was lodged after the postmortem at 11:45. This is recorded in the apex court."
Slamming the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Dr Sandip Ghosh, Dr Lahiri said, "The principal resigned from his post and service verbally. He said on camera that 'I am leaving my government service'. We don't know whether it is a Freudian slip or not that 'I have tried to save her but this was inevitable.' Why is the principal, the father figure of the RG Kar Medical College, told this?”
Alleging a conspiracy, he said, "Suppose there is a theft or crime in any area of any civilised world, what the administration should do? They should nab the culprit and hand it over to the police. Here what exactly happened, they are shielding the culprit. If there are more than one perpetrator, they are trying to hide the identity."
