Kolkata rape-murder case: Mamata slams Opposition for fuelling protests, urges doctors to join duty

Kolkata: Even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday took over the investigation into the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee physician at a hospital run by the state government, the ‘cease work’ by the protesting junior doctors continued to disrupt the healthcare services in the state.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) of politicising the incident and fuelling protests in the state to topple the Trinamool Congress government led by her, taking a cue from the agitation by the students in Bangladesh, where Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League was ousted from power.

With the senior doctors also joining the agitation in several government hospitals across West Bengal, many patients and their families had a harrowing time. Some private hospitals also suspended the Out patient Department (OPD) services as the doctors joined the protests. refrained from seeing patients. A campaign on social media platforms urging women to take to the streets and “Reclaim the Night” during the late hours on Wednesday and early hours on Thursday to denounce the rape and murder of the young doctor received a huge response not only from the cities, small towns and villages across West Bengal and turned into a mass protest.

Even the leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress also responded to the calls for the 'Reclaim the Night' protest, which the organisers insisted to be apolitical. The CPI (M) and the BJP leaders and workers also responded to the call across the state.

Banerjee on Wednesday said that at least three patients had died without getting necessary medical care due to the cease work protest by the agitating doctors.

“I am bowing down to the doctors and appealing to them to return to work. This is my appeal to the doctors. No one stopped you from agitating all these days. But you have an obligation to take care of the patients,” Banerjee said at an event in Kolkata.

The chief minister said that the state government would extend all possible cooperation to the CBI, which had taken over the probe as directed by the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday.

The Kolkata Police handed over the case diary to the CBI. The central agency also took custody of Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer of Kolkata Police, who was arrested for raping and murdering the young doctor in the seminar room of the Department of Chest Medicine on the fourth floor of the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The CBI officers also visited the scene of the crime.

Banerjee said that the Kolkata Police had completed 90 per cent of the probe and the CBI should solve the case by Sunday. She had earlier said that her government would seek the trial of the accused in a court and seek capital punishment for him if he was convicted.

The BJP demanded the resignation of Banerjee from the office of the state’s chief minister. The CPI(M) as well as the state unit of the Congress also took to the streets to protest the state government’s failure to ensure the safety of the women.

Banerjee on Wednesday said that most of the protesters were not medical students, and the political parties had been trying to influence the stir. She said that the Trinamool Congress would launch a campaign across the state on Saturday to protest the conspiracy of the BJP and the CPI(M) to topple her government.

The Kolkata Police on Wednesday dismissed the allegation that it had informed the parents of the deceased doctor that their daughter had died by suicide. It also dismissed reports that it had cremated the mortal remains of the young doctor.

The parents of the deceased alleged that the assistant superintendent of the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital had called them soon after their daughter had been found dead on August 9 morning and informed them that she had died by suicide.

What also agitated the protesting doctors was a statement by Sandip Ghose, the principal of the medical college, wondering why the doctor, who was on night duty, had gone to the seminar room.

Ghosh resigned from his post and government service on Monday, after being accused by the agitating doctors of failing to ensure the security of the healthcare professionals. He, however, was appointed as the principal of the National Medical College later on the same day. The protesting students at the National Medical College, however, did not allow him to join on Tuesday.

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday said that it was disheartening to note that Ghosh had not been proactive after learning of the death of the trainee doctor. The court asked him to go on a long leave.