Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder Case: Amidst peaceful campus vigil led by women, miscreants vandalise parts of RG Kar Hospital

On Thursday morning, an uneasy calm settled over RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. This followed an incident where unknown vandals damaged part of the hospital, where a woman doctor was found dead last week, according to the police.

The vandalism occurred amid midnight protests by women across the state, who were protesting the alleged rape and murder of the doctor in the hospital's seminar hall.

One of the protesting doctors said, "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.


"The police reported that around 40 people, pretending to be protesters, entered the hospital grounds, damaged property, and threw stones at the police. The police responded by firing tear gas to disperse the crowd.

A police vehicle was overturned, several parked two-wheelers were damaged, and some police officers were injured.

After inspecting the scene, Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal said, "We are looking into the matter." He also suggested that a "malicious media campaign" had worsened the situation. "What have the police not done to solve this case? But there has been a malicious media campaign that has been going on," he added.

The nursing staff at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Thursday urged authorities to get security cover at the hospital, following vandalism by miscreants at the hospital premises.

"We are demanding security during duty hours after yesterday's incident. It is difficult to do our duty in this scenario," one of the nurses from the hospital was quoted as saying.

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate also condemned the violence that erupted early Thursday morning, accusing the local administration of trying to cover up the crime.

"Why did the local administration try to cover up the crime? The violence we saw yesterday is unacceptable and it is not the answer to anything," Shrinate said.

Furthermore, Shrinate expressed her disappointment at the gravity of the incident, and asked if women are even safe in the country.

"The incident was extremely unfortunate. What happened with the woman doctor has raised a big question. Where are women, half the population of the country, safe? What is happening with women in this country? Why did the local administration try to cover up the crime? The violence we saw yesterday is unacceptable and it is not the answer to anything," Shrinate stated further.

On August 9, a postgraduate trainee doctor was reportedly raped and brutally murdered while on duty at the hospital. A civic volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime the following day.

On August 13, the Calcutta High Court ordered that the investigation be transferred from the Kolkata Police to the CBI.