CBI Takes Over Kolkata Rape-Murder Case, IMA demands hospitals be declared safe zones

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday handed over trainee doctor's rape and murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), amid a nationwide stir on the brutal incident which took place in city's RG Kar Hospital. The case was being probed by the state police. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vowed to handover the case to the central probing agency if the state police had failed to resolve it by Sunday. However, the High Court, amid widespread protest and seizure of emergency medical services across the country asked CBI to intervene.

CBI takes case handover from Kolkata police

Soon after court's order, the agency swiftly completed all formalities following the High Court order asking the state police to hand over the case documents to the central probe agency, officials said. A team of CBI officials from Delhi along with forensic scientists and medical experts will visit Kolkata on Wednesday, they said.

Earlier in the day, the High Court ordered the state police to hand over the case diary to the CBI by 10 AM on Wednesday, amid allegations of a botched probe and cover-up as well as protests and strikes by doctors over the incident.

The body of the postgraduate trainee, who was allegedly raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the state-run RG Kar hospital, was found on Friday morning. A civic volunteer was arrested in this connection on Saturday.

The victim's parents had moved the High Court seeking a court-monitored investigation in the case. Several other PILs were also filed seeking a CBI probe.

Autopsy reveals chilling details 

• The preliminary autopsy report suggested that the doctor was sexually abused and murdered. 
• It stated that the victim was bleeding from her eyes, mouth and private parts. 
• There were also injuries on her left leg, neck, right hand, ring finger and lips.

Accused a womaniser, trained boxer

The Kolkata Police had arrested a 33-year-old person who joined the Kolkata Police as a civic volunteer in 2019. The police had alleged that he was married at least four times and was a known "womaniser".

The accused, who is a trained boxer, got close to a few senior police officers over the years, following which he was moved to the Kolkata Police Welfare Board and posted at the police outpost at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where the incident occurred.

"He had access to all departments owing to his proximity with some senior police officers and the hospital authorities. Nobody had the guts to stop his unhindered movements in and around the hospital," a state police official had said.

His mother Malati Roy, however, rubbished the allegations, claiming that her son was "innocent".

Hearing the petitions in the matter, the bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya also observed that "something is missing" in the probe by the state police, and asked whether the statement of the then principal of the medical college, Sandip Ghosh, was recorded, to which the state lawyer answered in the negative.

High Court asks RG Kar's Hospital's ex-Principal to go on long leave 

Questioning how the principal, who submitted his resignation, was reinstated as principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital within hours, the bench asked his counsel to produce both the resignation letter and the subsequent appointment letter.

The high court told Ghosh's lawyer to ask him to go on a long leave by 3 pm, failing which it will pass appropriate orders.

Kolkata case triggers nationwide protests 

The sensational case snowballed into a major issue across the country with junior doctors and interns across West Bengal resorting to cease work, protesting against the incident and demanding adequate protection to hospital staff.

In solidarity, the Delhi AIIMS' Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) on Monday went on an indefinite strike, suspending all elective and non-essential services including OPDs and wards to protest the alleged rape and murder of the trainee doctor in Kolkata.

Resident doctors at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh also called the strike to protest against the gruesome incident.

During the hearing, the high court urged agitating doctors in West Bengal to call off their cease work, saying they have a "pious obligation" to treat patients who come to government hospitals.

IMA President meets JP Nadda

Amid countrywide protests over the Kolkata doctor's rape and murder case, a delegation led by Indian Medical Association (IMA) President Dr RV Asokan met Union Minister and BJP chief JP Nadda. He said that all hospitals in the country should be declared safe zones so that doctors can work without fear.

The IMA chief also welcomed Calcutta High Court's order to transfer the probe into the alleged rape and death of a woman doctor to the CBI.

During the meeting, a memorandum was submitted demanding that hospitals across the country be declared as safe zones, a central law against violence and security stipulations by NMC for recognition of medical colleges, Asokan said.

"We forth our three demands. Since the proportion of woman doctors is around 60 per cent of the total doctors population in the country, the security of lady doctors is an important issue and hospitals across the country should be declared as safe zones. Law should define the entitlement of the term safe zone," he said.

Secondly, the IMA has been demanding enactment of a special central law to curb attacks and violence on doctors, Asokan said.

With inputs from PTI