Viral letter, victim's family's outcry: Opposition turns up heat on Bengal Govt over Kolkata rape-murder
Sep 05, 2024
New Delhi [India], September 5 : A letter allegedly signed by former Principal of RG Kar Hospital, Dr Sandip Ghosh, has surfaced that suggested an attempt to alter the crime scene where the trainee doctor was raped and murdered.
BJP reiterated the demand for the Chief Minister's resignation, stressing a fair investigation.
In the alleged letter dated August 10, the Executive Engineer was ordered to take up repair/renovation/reconstruction of on-duty doctors' rooms along with separate attached toilets in all departments of RG Kar Hospital, Kolkata, on an urgent basis. The letter stated that there are "deficiencies" of on duty doctors' rooms and separate attached toilets in various departments.
In a post on X, BJP National Spokesperson Amit Malviya stated, "This is explosive. Yet another piece of evidence, which establishes that Dr Sandip Ghosh, now arrested and disgraced former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, ordered repair/renovation of the toilet near the seminar room (scene of crime) on August 10, a day after the young lady doctor was brutally raped and murdered (she was killed on the intervening night of August 8th/9th)."
Malviya claimed that the letter proved the West Bengal government and hospital lied about when renovations began near the crime scene and accused that three of them, including the state police, "colluded" to destroy all evidence and "sanitised" the scene of crime.
Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, urged to investigate the Chief Minister's mobile phone for call records on the date of the incident.
"Mamata Banerjee's people were saying that the renovation order (of the room near the seminar hall of RG Kar Hospital) was given to PWD before 9th August but today it has come to light that the order was received on August 10," Suvendu Adhikari said while speaking to reporters on Thursday.
"Rapists will be hanged but what will happen to those who protect rapists? We had demanded an amendment regarding this but they (state government) did not agree. Take Mamata Banerjee's mobile phone and check the call records of August 9 and 10, everything will come out," he added.
This development came amid the victim's family coming out against the Kolkata police regarding the ongoing investigation into the case.
"When the body of the daughter was lying in front of the parents in the house, the police were offering money, is this the humanity of the police? The police were saying that they have fulfilled all their responsibilities, is this what is called fulfilling the responsibility?," the aunt of the deceased doctor said while speaking to reporters during a protest staged at RG Kar Hospital.
"Till the last rites were not performed, 300-400 policemen surrounded us but after it was performed, not a single policeman was seen there. What would the family do? How would they go home? The police took no responsibility. Police were active till the last rites were performed and after that, they became completely inactive," she added.
BJP West Bengal General Secretary Locket Chatterjee also hit out at the Kolkata police and said, "Earlier we have seen that Kolkata police was sending summons to the people saying that they are spreading fake news. Now, we can see that Kolkata police itself is spreading fake news."
Locket Chatterjee demanded a probe against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as she alleged that the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata was an "organised crime."
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose alleged that a portion of the police is criminalised and politicised.
"Parents (of the victim) have told me certain things, which is very, very heartbreaking. They also gave to me in writing that I have taken up with the Home Minister. What they want is justice. The entire Bengal society seeks justice. Justice will be done. Justice should be done," Governor Bose said.
"The wrongdoers should be brought to book. Punishment should be given. People should feel that they can expect justice from the government, now that feeling is not there. This is the condition of Bengal today--the law is there but it is not being implemented properly or certain people are given protective discrimination by law. The police--a portion of the police is criminalised, a portion is corrupt and a portion of it is politicised," the governor added.
Earlier, Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, the BJP MP from Purulia, wrote to the Director of CBI, urging the arrest of DC Indira Mukherjee and other officials of Kolkata Police involved in tampering with the RG Kar evidence.
The body of the trainee doctor was found in the seminar room of the hospital on August 9. The incident sparked nationwide protests. A civic volunteer was arrested shortly after. The CBI also arrested Dr Sandip Ghosh, for alleged financial misconduct at the medical establishment.