Doctors demand inquiry, Supreme Court intervention in Durgapur MBBS student gangrape case

Kolkata: Doctors have condemned the MBBS student's gangrape incident recently reported from Durgapur in West Bengal.

According to recent media reports, multiple doctors' forums, including the West Bengal Doctors Forum (WBDF) and Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association(APJUDA) condemned the alleged gang-rape of a 2nd year MBBS student from Odisha outside the campus of a private medical college and hospital in Durgapur.

The doctors have sought Supreme Court chief justice B R Gavai's intervention on the apex court mandated directive for formation of National Task Force to ensure security in the medical colleges, reports UNI.

The students at Durgapur medical college began an indefinite silent sit-in demonstration and gathered the principal to protest the alleged rape.

The BJP and CPI(M) also staged protest demonstrations outside the campus demanding immediate arrest of the culprits. The BJP also started a protest demonstration in the concerned police station demanding the arrest of those involved in the rape charges.

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West Bengal Junior Doctors also condemned the crime and demanded justice.

They have drawn parallels between this case and the 2024 rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Aniket Mahato of the West Bengal Junior Doctors' Forum was quoted saying, "Justice was not done in the RG Kar case, and now another incident has occurred."

The incident has triggered renewed protests by the medical community demanding greater security on medical campuses. Citing the slow progress in past cases, some doctors' bodies are demanding a more transparent and quicker investigation this time.

The father of the Durgapur victim, and other doctors' groups, have criticized the lack of security measures at the medical college, particularly the unguarded areas outside the campus.

The college's principal, along with other staff and the student who accompanied the victim, are being questioned regarding the security lapses.

According to the official APJUDA statement, the survivor had gone out with her friend for dinner in the evening hours, yet the chief minister of West Bengal questioned ‘how the student left the camp at midnight.’ The doctor’s group says the CM’s statement not only misrepresents the facts but insensitive, and places the burden of justification on the survivor rather than the perpetrators.

The doctor’s group demands urgent attention to the ‘systemic failure'. the demands include- A swift, transparent, and impartial investigation must be conducted, free from political influence or institutional cover-up, with strict punishment for all those found guilty; Immediate safety audits should be carried out on campuses and in surrounding public areas; Mandatory installation and proper functioning of CCTV cameras, adequate lighting, panic buttons, and rapid response systems in and around college and hospital premises.

“APJUDA stands firmly with the survivor - with empathy, in solidarity, and in unwavering demand for justice,” the official APJUDA statement reads, quotes Careers360.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that a 23-year-old MBBS student, the resident of Jaleswar in Odisha, was allegedly raped after being abducted by some unidentified men when she stepped outside her college campus with a male classmate to eat in the industrial Durgapur in West Bengal's West Bardhaman district recently.

State health principal secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam said that Director of Medical Education Indrajit Saha sent a notice to the hospital in Durgapur and sought a detailed report.

The crime was reported when she, who along with her a male classmate, went out of campus around 9 pm to eat out, a group of unidentified men surrounded them and abducted her leaving out the male student. They dragged her to a nearby forest where one of them allegedly raped her.

Police said they were already probing the allegation and interrogated some suspects, including the friend who fled from the scene leaving her female classmate in the hands of the perpetrators.