Junior doctor raped and murdered in Kolkata: What's going on?

The shocking death of a trainee doctor has stirred a massive outrage in Kolkata with the victim’s family members and opposition parties alleging that the second-year medical student was raped before being murdered.

The 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor’s brutalised body was found in a semi-nude state in the seminar hall of state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on Friday, putting the campus on the boil and prompting the administration to rush the city police chief and health secretary to the spot.

The incident has also sparked outrage among students who are demanding a swift probe into the case and are raising questions about the safety and security on the hospital premises.

So far, the police has arrested one person, Sanjoy Roy, on the basis of CCTV footage from the hospital as investigation into the gruesome incident continues.

Here’s what we know happened

The incident

According to sources in the hospital, the junior doctor who was in charge of patients in the chest medicine in the hospital ward was on night duty and was on the premises till 2 am, before going up to the seminar room on the third floor, to take a break and study.

“Around 7.30 am an intern called her up but her cellphone kept ringing. He then went to the seminar room and found her body. He alerted other students, who called up hospital officials and alerted cops,” one of the victim’s colleagues told The Times of India (TOI).

Those who saw the body said she was lying on a podium in the seminar hall. “A blue bed sheet covered the body from the neck to the knees. Her kurta was dishevelled and the trousers missing. Her laptop, a notebook, cellphone, and a water bottle were next to the body,” the source further said.

After the body was discovered, Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and Additional CP Murlidhar Sharma visited the spot for inspection. A forensic team was called for an initial examination of the body at the spot, police sources told The Indian Express.

The police officer said that the victim’s body bore scratch marks, implying that there was some struggle. The four-page initial autopsy report also revealed injuries found all over her body.

“Her neck bone was also found broken. It seems that she was first strangulated and then smothered to death. There was bleeding from both her eyes and mouth, injuries over the face and nail. The victim was also bleeding from her private parts. She also has injuries in her belly, left leg…neck, in her right hand, ring finger and…lips,” it said.

Forensic experts told TOI that they had found blood stains and human hair all over the mattress on which she was lying and a broken spectacle next to the body.

After the horrific incident came to light, CM Mamata Banerjee called up the victim’s father and assured him of all help to ensure justice.

“She (Mamata) has assured us of all help. But we have lost our daughter. Unless we get justice we can never be satisfied. I suspect my daughter was raped and murdered but the authorities initially tried to cover up facts,” the father was quoted as saying by TOI.

Following the incident, the hospital has formed an 11-member inquiry committee to investigate the matter. Additionally, the Police have formed a Special Investigation Team, including members of the homicide department.

Police said they are also interrogating the five people, including doctors and nurses who were on duty with the victim on Thursday night.

Protests erupt

The incident has ignited fury among trainee doctors at the hospital, who are demanding a faster investigation by authorities and action against the culprits.

On Friday, students from RG Kar Medical College organised a candle march in the city to protest the heinous crime.

A section of junior doctors has also declared that except in the emergency ward, they will not work due to the prevailing lack of security at the hospital.

They placed demands before the college administration that included better safety measures such as installing CCTV cameras in each of the departments and a proper duty room with attached toilets for doctors, and 24x7 guards among others.

Manas Gumta, the secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors, told The Indian Express, “My blood boils. I don’t think such an incident has ever happened in the history of West Bengal. If our demands are not taken seriously, the all-doctors association will assemble in the hospital…”

On Saturday, several nurses in Kolkata also rallied in support of the victim and demanded justice and accountability.

The outrage has extended beyond the medical community. The student and youth wings of CPI (M), SFI, and DYFI announced plans to hold road blockades across West Bengal over the weekend to protest the doctor’s murder and demand a quicker investigation.

Political uproar

The brutal incident also brought a sharp reaction from CM Mamata Banerjee on Saturday after opposition parties, including BJP and Congress parties, alleged the state of “hiding the crime”.

“Firstly, the incident is unfortunate and despicable. It feels like a personal loss to me. Their (doctors’) anger and demand is justified. I support it. Police have also accepted their demands,” Banerjee said while speaking to Bengali news channel ABP Ananda.

“I have directed the case to be taken to a fast-track court. If needed, the accused will be hanged. But they should be given the strictest punishment,” she added.

Earlier, several BJP and Congress leaders joined the doctor’s protests and demanded an independent investigation by the central agency CBI.

BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul alleged that if the postmortem is done under the state system, the truth will be “buried”.

“We demand a CBI investigation. You can’t conduct a postmortem after the evening, but they did it here…If postmortem is done under the state system, truth will be buried. We want a re-postmortem by a Central Government hospital. This is all we demand so that she gets justice,” she said.

BJP leader Amit Malviya accused the Mamata Banerjee government in the state of “hiding the crime”.

“Mamata Banerjee Govt is trying to hide the crime. Kolkata Police has been asked to cover up, and show it as suicide. Media is not being allowed in. Repeat: no woman is safe in West Bengal,” he wrote in a post on X.

With input from agencies