Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: RG Kar, the campus was victim's 'second home'

As the recent Kolkata murder-rape case sent shockwaves across the country and led to nationwide protests, the 31-year-old trainee who was subjected to inhumane acts used to consider R G Kar Medical College and Hospital as her 'second home,' reported ToI.

From a batch of MBBS students who had seen Covid pandemic break out as they learnt their craft, she had chosen respiratory medicine as her specialisation. At RG Kar, the campus she called her "second home", she immersed herself in patient management, the report said further.

On August 9, after a shift and study cycle that stretched for 36 hours without a break, she had dozed off on a platform in the college's seminar room when she was sexually assaulted by one or more individuals (still the subject of a probe), and murdered in an attack of depraved brutality. Interns and fellow postgraduate trainees who had come to the seminar room the next morning found her body. Her laptop, a notebook & cellphone lay intact beside it.


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Waiting for Durga Puja:
Just like other families in West Bengal, the victim's family were waiting for a grand celebration as well. "We are a poor family and we raised her with a lot of hardship. She worked extremely hard to become a doctor. All our dreams have been shattered in one night," her 67-year-old father told TOI. "This was to be the third year of our home Puja and she had plans to organise a bigger one this time. This was meant to be a special occasion as she would have completed her PG," her mother said. "Now, all we want are arrests and proper punishment for all the culprits involved. Only that can offer solace to her soul."

Role model in her family:
Considered a role model, both for her good academic scores and her soft-spoken manner, the 31-year-old trainee cracked both JEE and medical, a relative said. "She chose MBBS and qualified for the course at two state-run medical colleges. Eventually, she chose JNM Medical College Hospital in Kalyani. When she decided to pursue PG, she qualified at two medical colleges and picked RG Kar (which is about an hour's bus ride from her Sodepur home). She meant everything to us," she said.

The Union Home Ministry has asked all state police forces to provide it situation reports every two hours in the wake of protests by doctors, nursing staff and others against the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. In a communication to the state police forces, the home ministry said that the law and order situation of all states should be monitored in view of the protests.

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"Henceforth, a continuous two-hourly law and order situation report in this regard may kindly be sent to the MHA control room (New Delhi) by Fax/ Email/ WhatsApp from 1600 hours today," the communication sent on Friday said.

On August 9, a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. A civic volunteer of Kolkata Police was arrested in connection with the crime the next day. The Calcutta High Court handed over the case to the CBI on Tuesday.

A group of people entered the premises of the hospital shortly after Wednesday midnight during protests by women against the rape-murder incident and vandalised portions of the medical facility.

Doctors and other medical staff have been protesting in different parts of the country affecting the functioning of health facilities. They are pressing for a central law to check violence against healthcare personnel, declaring hospitals safe zones with mandatory security entitlements among other demands.

(with ToI inputs)