Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder: Uneasy Calm in RG Kar Hospital After Goons Vandalise Premises

Kolkata: Just hours after unidentified miscreants vandalised part of the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata where a woman doctor was found raped and murdered last week, an uneasy calm settled over the facility on Thursday morning. The vandalism occurred during midnight protests by women in various parts of the state, against the alleged rape and murder of the doctor in the hospital's seminar hall.

"The goons entered the campus and beat up agitating doctors. This was an attempt to break our morale so that we back out from the protest. But such incidents have only strengthened our resolve to fight till the end," said one of the protesting doctors.

According to police, nearly 40 people, masquerading as protestors, entered the hospital premises, vandalised property, and pelted the police personnel present with stones, prompting the force to burst tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.

A police vehicle was overturned and several two-wheelers parked there were also damaged in the incident, and some police officers suffered injuries.

After visiting the area following the incident, Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal said, “We are looking into the matter.” He also claimed that a "malicious media campaign" aggravated the situation.

"What the police have not done to crack this case? But there has been a malicious media campaign that has been going on," he said.

Spurred by the 'Reclaim the Night' campaign, which gained momentum through social media, the protests began at 11.55 pm, aligning with Independence Day celebrations, and spread across key areas in both small towns and big cities, including several landmarks in Kolkata.

A postgraduate trainee doctor was raped and murdered at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata while on duty last week.

The semi-naked body of the 32-year-old woman was found on August 9 morning in the seminar hall of the government-run hospital in the West Bengal capital. A civic volunteer has been arrested in connection with the crime.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of the probe into the case from the Kolkata Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).