A woman sits outside the medical emergency ward as medics protest against rape and murder of a trainee doctor, inside the premises of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Kolkata: An uneasy calm prevailed at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Thursday morning, hours after unidentified miscreants vandalised a part of the medical establishment where a woman doctor was found dead last week, police said.
The vandalism took place amid midnight protests by women in various parts of the state against the alleged rape and murder of the doctor in the seminar hall of the hospital.
"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 the police, nearly 40 people, masquerading as protestors, entered the hospital premises, vandalized 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.
A postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and brutally murdered while on duty at the hospital on August 9.
A civic volunteer has been arrested in connection with the crime the next day.
The Calcutta High Court ordered immediate transfer of the investigation into the crime to the CBI from the Kolkata Police on August 13.