Kolkata: As Bengal remains on the boil in response to the brutal gangrape and killing of a young doctor in Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, chief minister Mamata Banerjee – who is on the line of fire with multiple protests afoot against her administration – has announced a rally to call for the death penalty for the accused.
Today, August 16, looks to be a day of agitation in Kolkata. The SUCI (Communist) has given a call for a statewide 12-hour strike today. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s women’s wing will also hold a candlelight rally against the vandalism today, in addition to road blockades from 2 pm to 4 pm. The CPI(M) has also begun a planned two-day agitation starting today.
Banerjee’s rally has garnered questions and outrage, amidst which party MP Derek O’Brien has posted on X that she is doing it to press certain demands.
“Because [O’Brien writes],
👉 CBI, which is now handling the case, must give daily updates on the investigation
👉 The deadline given by the CM to Kolkata Police to complete the investigation was August 17. The same must apply to CBI
👉 Kolkata Police has arrested one accused. Justice will happen only when CBI nabs ALL involved and sends case to a fast-track court
“CBI taking over the case shouldn’t lead to it being quietly buried. The urgent need of the hour is swift justice and the harshest punishment for the culprits. No one who committed this barbaric act must be spared.”
Union government’s directive
In a memorandum issued by the Union health ministry, the Union government has asked the heads of government hospitals across India to register a first information report within six hours of any incident of violence.
Courts
The matter is being heard again today at the Calcutta high court which had earlier sent it to the Central Bureau of Investigation for investigation.
For the petitioners, counsel Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya raised the issue of how reconstruction has purportedly been started at a part of the hospital premises just after the court asked for a CBI probe. “The work started near the seminar hall [where the doctor was found] and a room is at present being broken down. Why is this happening,” Bhattacharya asked.
The court asked the CBI to furnish a report on how the investigation is proceeding at the next hearing on Wednesday, August 21.
The Chief Justice of the Calcutta HC has directed people to not use the victim’s name and identity publicly.
It also gave CBI the freedom to visit the hospital and asked the state government to furnish details on losses incurred due to the vandalism of August 15.
Vandalism
A day ago, while women sat at a historic protest through the night in various parts of Bengal and India, a mob of nearly 80 men raided the hospital, where a protest was afoot. Some have alleged that the vandalisation compromised evidence, although Kolkata Police have maintained otherwise. Medical students who were protesting were attacked as well.
The Kolkata Police has arrested 19 people over the vandalism and remanded them to police custody till August 22.
IMA
Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association has announced a nationwide withdrawal of services by doctors of modern medicine from 6 am on Saturday, August 17, to 6 am on Sunday August 18 – for 24 hours. “All essential services will be maintained. Casualties will be manned. Routine OPDs will not function and elective surgeries will not be conducted. The withdrawal is across all the sectors wherever modern medicine doctors are providing service. IMA regrets the sympathy of the nation with the just cause of its doctors,” the release signed by its national president R.V. Asokan said.
The IMA said that it is for authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses. “Both physical assaults and crimes are a result of indifference and insensitivity of the concerned authorities to the needs of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers,” it added.
Indian Express has reported that in addition to Kolkata and Bengal, doctors are protesting at the Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar, the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology in Kerala, the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy and at RML Hospital in Delhi.
