"Will continue protests until culprits are identified, punished," say doctors, students at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital
Aug 13, 2024
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 13 : After the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe into the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee, the doctors and medical students at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital said that they support the decision but would continue their protests until the culprits are identified and punished.
Protesting doctors and medical students also conveyed that their protests will be carried on until their demands of installing CCTV cameras, establishing proper security measures, and providing compensation to the victim's parents are met.
Addressing media persons, Dr Lahari Sarkar, Resident Doctor, on behalf of all protestors, said, "We have just received the update about the case being transferred to the CBI. We welcome this decision with all our support. We support this decision. However, just handing over the case doesn't mean justice is served, so we will continue the protests until the appropriate culprits are identified and proper punishment is given."
Further referring to their additional demands, Dr. Sarkar said, "Also, there are more demands that are still to be met, such as the installation of CCTV cameras, establishing proper security measures, and providing compensation to the victim's parents. We have also proposed the stepdown of the authorities who were responsible at the time of the incident. We are still not happy with the orders that are currently circulated, so we will continue our protests till our demands are fulfilled."
She further clarified that emergency services at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital will continue; however, OPD services will not function any time soon.
"However, I would like to emphasize that our emergency services are still open, our senior doctors and our authorities are helping with that and running the emergency services, but OPD services are not functional right now," she said.
Speaking on the duration of protests, Sarkar said, "We will have another general meeting to discuss how long our strikes will continue. Till now, none of our demands have been fulfilled, so there is no question of dissolving our protests at the moment."
Earlier in the day, the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI investigation into the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on August 9.
The Court has asked the Kolkata Police to hand over all documents to the CBI immediately.
Earlier today, doctors and medical students held a protest at AIIMS Delhi on Tuesday after the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) called for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from Tuesday in solidarity against the sexual assault and murder of a woman doctor.
Earlier, the Calcutta High Court asked the former principal of RG Kar Medical College Sandip Ghosh to submit a leave application. This comes after Ghosh's appointment as principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata immediately after his resignation from RG Kar College triggered protests.
Sandip Ghosh resigned from the position of principal at RG Kar Medical College on Monday alleging that he was being defamed on social media platforms following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the hospital premises.