Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: NHRC notice to Bengal govt, state police chief; NCW team visits hospital crime scene

The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that the junior woman doctor was found dead at the seminar hall of Kolkata's state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, it said in a statement.

Kolkata: The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday served a notice to the government of West Bengal and the state’s Director General of Police seeking details of the alleged murder and rape of a trainee doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata and the progress of the investigation into the case.

A team from the National Commission for Women (NCW) also visited the scene of the crime at the state-run hospital on Tuesday. The team met the investigating police officers and later visited the residence of the victim to meet her parents.

The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of media reports on the rape and murder of the trainee doctor, who was found dead in the seminar room of the Department of Chest Medicine on the fourth floor of the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital early on Friday.

The commission observed that the content of the media reports, if true, raised a serious issue of violation of the human rights of the victim.

It asked the state’s chief secretary and the police chief to submit reports in two weeks, detailing the status of the investigation and action taken against the perpetrators.

The NHRC sought to know if any compensation had been paid to the next of kin of the victim. It had asked the state government to inform it about the steps being taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future.