Rape & Murder In Kolkata Hospital | Kobad Ghandy

On 9 August 2024 (exactly a year after the 17 year old Jadavpur University student killed himself due to ragging 31 year old junior doctor, ‘ Abhaya’ (from Panihati in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district), at the R.G Kar Hospital in the heart of Kolkata, was found dead - apparently gang-raped and brutally killed on the night of August 8/9th 2024 at about 3 am. She was initially reported missing by colleagues. Later that morning, at about 8 am the trainee doctor’s body was discovered in one of the college’s seminar rooms in a semi-nude state with her eyes, mouth and genitals bleeding.

The principal was informed at about 10 am, and he apparently rang the parents who were first told that their daughter was unwell and then that she had committed suicide. After they came to the hospital, they were kept waiting for three hours before they were allowed to see the body; that too briefly.

She had been collecting evidence of the wrongdoings going on at the hospital, particularly that of the principal. She already had a lot of the information and was probably about to expose it, being known to be an honest and upright person. Therefore, hated by the hospital mafia. Her colleagues recall her fondly describing her as “proactive, and friendly…. she was known for her exceptional counselling skills at the hospital …. Her interactions with patients were always empathetic, making her the choice each time someone wanted to counsel a family. If a patient’s relative wanted advice or was anxious and if she was on duty, she was almost always sent to speak to them†. Her murder together with the destruction of her car was with the intention of destroying any information she may have had. There no mention anywhere of what happened to her possessions (bag, money, papers, etc) which would have been with her; were these handed over to her parents? NO REPORT OF ANY SUCH THING!!! The reports and media conveniently ignore all these key facts.

When her parents were finally allowed to see the body there were no clothes on the bottom part of her body, multiple fractures, the legs wrenched apart, blood oozing out of her eyes, and mouth. Within hours the responsible people should have resigned/arrested, DNA samples collected and the doctors she had met a little earlier been interviewed. But there is not a word on all this.

The Brutality

The brutality of the killing is unimaginable specifically in a medical hospital in the very heart of the city. When her body was discovered the next morning, it was found that there were over 100 injury marks all over her body, her eyes were oozing blood as also from the mouth, and of course brutal rape signs. It was horrific, crude and unimaginable such a thing could happen in the heart of Kolkata, in one of the top three medical institutions of the city. According to the autopsy report There was bleeding from both her eyes and mouth, injuries over the face and nail. The victim was also bleeding from her private parts. She also had injuries in her belly, left leg... neck, in her right hand, ring finger and... lips," The autopsy, unfortunately was carried out in the same hospital at about 3 pm, as the murder, though suspect, also says a large amount of viscous fluid was found in her vagina. Earlier reports said there were fractures in her collar bone and pelvic bone but these did not show up in the post mortem report. The parents were in a too dazed state to counter the police and principal who had the autopsy done in the very same hospital. Maybe things may have been different if the autopsy was done in another hospital? An autopsy revealed that the victim had been raped and sexually assaulted before being killed via strangulation.

The incident

After 36 hrs of duty, she then went to the seminar room to rest only at about 2 am, as there is no proper rest room on the hospital/campus premises. Before that she and four other doctors ordered food from outside and one of them went down to receive it as none are allowed to the third floor. After dinner the other doctors left and Abhaya went to the seminar room (or the neighboring one – not yet clear) to rest. The murderer, according to the CCTVs enters the hospital at 4 am and leaves in half an hour. The accused parks his bike (that of his friend Dr. Anup Dutta) and had been tracking the movements of Abhaya for at least the last 24 hours. He goes straight to the third floor, the scene of the crime – obviously informed by another doctor of her presence there. He is not stopped by any hospital staff.

In fact, the amenities in the hospital/college are terrible - absence of on-call rooms with wash rooms, ill lit areas which women prefer to avoid after dark, and inadequate security measures….

Meanwhile the erstwhile Principal, Sandeep Ghosh, having a notorious record, quickly ‘retired’ soon after the event. The main accused, now arrested, Sanjay Roy – was a civic volunteer of the police. That too it took the Kolkota police 4 days before arresting this man. This person was a type of broker between the administration and the patients harassing the public and collecting funds for allocation of beds. Being a police man himself the Kolkata police is doing its best to get him off the hook by showing he is a psychiatric case. He was caught on CCTV going into her room and coming out; his head phone was found in her room, and there were blood spots on his shoe. But what about the others? Why are their names not being disclosed either by the police or CCTV cameras. After huge agitations on Aug 14th night, the CBI (not local police) finally took in the erstwhile principal, Sandeep Ghosh, for questioning who now seems the mastermind behind the case, as it was his gross misconduct and corruption that she probably was to expose.

Finally, not only was she murdered and brutalized, but her newly purchased car was vandalized, strongly indicating a deep-seated venom against her for what she was probably about to disclose and destruction of whatever evidence she may have gathered.

The body was given to the family only around 8 pm and she was then hastily cremated at 10 pm, There were already 3-4 bodies at the crematorium, but Abhaya’s was pushed ahead and cremated by a TMC MLA.

Evidence destruction & entry of the CBI

The local police and Mamta govt seem to be doing all their best to cover up for the criminals involved and did not so much as question the Principal, Sanjay Gosh after the crime. As the case was proceeding at a snail’s pace, the High Court then handed over the case to the CBI, but this was about a week later, by when much of the evidence was destroyed. With this, at least the ex-principal has been taken in for questioning as also some 30 staff. But till today he has not been arrested.

The Mamta government, in fact, earlier oversaw so-called renovations of rooms a mere 20 meters from where the crime occurred, in an obvious attempt to obliterate any possible remaining evidence

It is clear that the govt too is playing a dubious role to protect the perpetrators. The body was discovered in the morning and the principal was informed at about 10 am. No FIR was lodged, which is itself a serious lapse of the principal and police. (This was done only late that night well after the post mortem). To divert attention Mamta even went to the extent of taking out a procession to supposedly catch the culprits; but all know they are probably taking shelter under her pallu. Mamta’s defense of the indefensible is not even explainable to her own party members. The Mamta government too was doing its best to cover up the issue: by transferring the notorious principal (Sandip Ghosh) to another hospital (retracted after the students did not allow him to attend), breaking down the adjacent rooms where the crime occurred (as already mentioned), obviously to destroy any evidence, and ordering the protesting doctors to go back to work. Not only that she went so far as to attempt to transfer 42 doctors participating in the movement. (Hastily withdrawn after discontent).

Meanwhile the Kolkata police instead of going after the culprits are harassing those taken to social media to expose varied issues – going so far as to arrest one and issuing notices to 280 others. Meanwhile many questions remain: Who “floated the suicide story†and why? Why was the wall of a hall near the crime scene demolished? Who supported Sanjay Roy, the accused? And why was a sniffer dog allegedly only used after three days?

The Principal & His Power

The principal has a notorious record. He would strut around with 4-5 bouncers by his side like a don. He has the complete backing of the Mamta government and was notorious for his corruption. A doctor is on record saying that he takes a cut on every activity going on in the hospital (up to 20%) – whether it be hiring people, allocating rooms, preparing doctor’s dresses - any and everything. He would even go the extent of selling the dead body parts and make lakhs.

And, even in this case, he made a statement saying there was no foul play immediately after the event! The suicide story was repeated time and again by the principal (and his representatives), by the police, and to keep the truth out as long as possible (probably to tamper with the evidence), and the parents had to wait three hours before they got access to see the body – that too briefly.

In fact, immediately after the principal resigned from the R.G Kar Hospital, Mamta appointed him principal of another top Kolkata hospital. He could not take charge as the students there prevented his entry. Now he has a government lawyer defending him in court (why should the people pay for his legal expenses). Earlier he had been transferred twice by the Education Board, but was able to reverse it and come back. This man also happens to be the personal physician of the CM.

Now the high court has intervened and told him to stay at home, but his fat salary will probably continue. Though the CBI is questioning him he had deleted his entire call records. Why? He obviously had something to hide.

Cover-up & Evidence Destruction

The victim got a whiff of it and made the mistake of telling them off. They began threatening her. It is believed that her male friend advised her to collect evidences which she had been doing for some time. That is why her car was ransacked and destroyed. Evidences removed. But she did not take the hint. The brave lady kept investigating again. Her murder was very meticulously planned and she was lured into the seminar room since some patient’s beds were shifted near that room.

Murder may have created problems of intent, so she was brutally tortured and raped by people who were sent to deal with her. The accused, apparently, was only a decoy.

Many more questions are being raised. Why was the body not preserved in a mortuary? Where are the reports of the DNA samples of the semen found in the vagina and of other items on the victim’s body.? Why are they not matched with the suspects and being made public; why was the family lied to about her death not once but time and again. And, even after they came to the hospital why were they made to wait 3 hours before they could see the dead body of their daughter? Then again, if one of the culprits arrested could be spotted on CCTV why not the others; and finally, why is the culprit himself not being asked who accompanied him to the scene of the crime. Local news channels reporting this case do not so much as ask these obvious questions that raise many doubts. In fact, the parents of the woman doctor have told the CBI that a few interns and physicians of the same medical establishment were involved in the crime. But there is no follow up.

Mass upsurge against the rape & murder

In Kolkata lakhs have been coming out onto the streets ever since the gruesome event. On 14th night in midnight vigil all over the country, every part of Bengal was effected. Tomorrow there is yet another massive rally planned. Though Sandeep Ghosh is being questioned, not a single other arrest has taken place. The real culprits are still at large giving future rapist – mostly powerful people – more confidence to prey on women. Though the case has reached the Supreme Court even they are not focussed on catching the real culprits but more on suggesting structural changes.

If no strong action is taken in such cases, in our highly patriarchal society, women will continue to be objectified and treated worse than animals – from wife beating, to being treated as a house chattel (fit only for cooking and cleaning), to honour killings, to routine rape (with or without violence), and finally such horrific incidences of gang rape and brutal murder.

This R.G. Kar Hospital incidence is only the tip of the iceberg under which lies layers of patriarchal filth – overt and crude but very often subtle. And of course, when caste superiority is involved, atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis is treated as an upper caste birth right, and scarcely gets even mentioned. And as this culture becomes widespread our women themselves also tend to get desensitized against such atrocities on their own kin; often, going so far as to put the blame on the woman herself. While if they are assertive their male counterparts tend to mock at them as ‘western feminists’. This is seen even within the left and revolutionary circles.

But, ‘silence means consent’. In this case the Bengal govt, administration and many doctors seem to be complicit; yet the cover-up goes on.

Tomorrow’s rally has the slogan to ‘Uproot the Syndicate Rule in the Public Health System’ – RECLAIM THE NIGHTS; RECLAIM THE RIGHTS.

Meanwhile, right outside the ministry’s office in the national capital, around 1,000 doctors continued their protest in its eighth day. To send out a message that they would be staying put, the AIIMS’ Resident Doctors’ Association also announced plans to offer consultations and run OPDs from the street outside the office. Also, TMC senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Shekhar Roy urged the CBI Sunday to conduct custodial interrogation of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and the college’s former principal Sandip Ghosh. Within hours, the Kolkata police issued a notice to Roy, asking him to appear at the police headquarters in Lalbazar. Other TMC leaders opposed him, including TMC spokesperson, Kunal Ghosh!!!!

In fact TMC leaders are threatening one and all. Though health services across the country have been hit as doctors’ strikes enter their 10th day, senior TMC leader Arup Chakraborty during a rally, warned doctors that if public anger were to turn against them, they would not save them. He also threatened those criticising Mamata Banerjee, saying their fingers would be broken. Goonda Raj at its worst!!

Political capital

As usual there is much yelling from the roof top with political parties vying to score brownie points but none say - why the Nirbhaya Fund (which was doubled this budget) has only been half used; why the implementation of the Sexual harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) Act, notified in 2013, has been half-hearted; and why various Supreme Court orders to management/authorities/employers to ensure “safe and secure workplace for women†are going ignored.

For women in India, mere self-assertion is itself seen as a crime; and only those are appreciated who are sati-savitri docile (supposedly feminine) females.

Meanwhile as these agitations go on, it was reported that two weeks back a nurse was raped and murdered while returning home from hospital after her duty in Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand as far back as July 30th. According to the police, the accused first dragged her to the bushes where he raped her and strangled her to death. The body was discovered by the police on August 8th.

There is a BJP govt in Uttarakhand, which may be the reason why it shouts from the roof top in Bengal but is silent about what happened in Uttarakhand; or maybe because the victim was a Muslim and therefore expendable. And as for the INDIA alliance, of which the TMC is a part, their opposition is surprisingly low key. The Congress is silent, while the CPM itself has many such cases where it was directly involved during its 34-year rule

CPM’s horrifying track record

Picture of rape and violence on women during left front rule:

Tapasi Malik was the frontline face of the Singur movement. She was the daughter of Manoranjan Malik, a sharecropper of Singur. On December 18, 2006, when she went to the field to answer the call of nature, she was abducted and taken to the barbed wire fenced area of Singur where she was brutally gang-raped and killed.

Her body was burned, especially the lower body, to remove the evidence of rape. Seeing the fire and smoke, the villagers came running at around 6 am. The miscreants fled.

Allegations were against local CPM leaders Suhrid Dutta and Debu Malik. However, the CPM consistently tried to pass off the incident as suicide. But after this incident, the common people of West Bengal burst into hatred towards CPM. Meetings, marches and protest meetings continued all over Bengal.

With its back to the wall, the CPM came up with a conspiracy theory that the opposition parties were involved in the whole incident to defend itself. Even CPIM’s nationally and internationally known intellectuals started maligning Tapasi Malik’s family.

Case 2

The late 80s witnessed a horrific incidence at Bantala, near Calcutta. There CPIM goons attacked, raped and murdered brutally Anita Dewan and brutally injured another two women, one of them from the central government. Anita Dewan was a senior officer of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

A senior lady officer of the UNICEF and another senior officer of the Government of India detected a case of huge embezzlement of UN funds by some CPI-M organization within the South 24-Parganas district. When they were returning with a lot of incriminating evidence, their vehicle was waylaid at Bantala by CPI-M goons. The vehicle was set on fire to destroy all documentary evidence. The driver, who tried to protect the two lady officers, was killed. Then the lady officers were raped and one of them murdered and her body, without any clothes, was left on the open paddy field. When the then Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, was informed of the incident, he quipped to the waiting mediamen: “Such incidents do happen, don’t they?â€

Case 3

Dhantala rapes†in 2003. A marriage party bus was waylaid, at least six women were gangraped and the driver of the bus was killed. The incident happened when the Left was in power and investigations later showed that it was the result of an internal conflict between two senior CPM leaders in the area. The family of one of the CPM leaders was supposed to have been on the bus after a marriage reception late in the night. But the goons attacked the wrong bus while their target bus arrived a little later.

In fact after 2000, the violence against women in WB increased rapidly. “From being one of the safest states for women in 2000, Bengal sank into being one of the most dangerous. Prior to 2000, Bengal ranked 22nd among India’s states in terms of crimes against women; by 2004-05, it was placed in the 2nd position after UP.†The maximum number of tortures of women happened between 2000 and 2011 in WB. According to Bandana Chatterjee, “There was an unmistakable rise in crimes against women from 2000 onwards as we have just mentioned, but post 2005 the rise became alarming, to say the least. Crimes against women generally include rape, molestation, dowry deaths, eve teasing, cruelty and torture by husbands and his relatives, and kidnapping of girls and women. In 2000 the cases of such crimes in West Bengal was recorded to be 7.043, but by 2005 the figure nearly doubled to 12,706. The state had the distinction of occupying the second highest place in the country. This trend continued till 2011.†During that time rape had increased exponentially in WB. “With regard to rape cases in the state a similar pattern is evident. In 2000, the figure was, according to SCRB, 814 but by 2004 it rose to 1475 and in 2005 it was 1673. By 2004-05 West Bengal was reported to have the second highest number of rape cases in the country.†Even the record of West Bengal State Crime-Record Bureau’s data shows such increase of violence against women. “By 2010 in West Bengal, 26,125 cases of crimes against women were registered. Its position was second just after Andhra Pradesh (27,244). By 2011, this figure rose to 29,133, with 2,363 rape cases, the highest in the country. Besides, there were 4,168 cases of kidnapping and 19,865 cases of cruelty by husbands. Thus according to the NCRB, by 2010-11 the state was in the top rank in terms of crimes against women for eight successive years. From 2004-10, it had the second highest incidence of rape and by 2010, had the highest. Between 2009 and 2010, rape cases increased in the rest of India by 15%; in West Bengal it was by 34%. It had also the highest number of cases of domestic violence and trafficking.â€

The list could go on and on but suffice it to say that the CPM slate is not that clean as many would believe. It was also used as a political weapon against peoples’ movements as in Nandigram, where, during the mass movement they raped many women protesters.

Atrocities on women continue unabated

In 2012 they didn’t just rape her, they played with her intestine. This was in Delhi and they named her Nirbhaya.

In 2017 they didn’t just rape her, they hung her on a tree. This was in Unnao and they named her Nirbhaya 2.

In 2019 they didn’t just rape her, they burnt her alive. This was in Hyderabad and they named her Nirbhaya 3.

From ages to 2019, all we are doing is burning candles, blackening our DP, commenting on few fb pages and forget it within a week. Days pass by and we have Nirbhaya 4, 5, 6..

In 2024…..They brutally Raped & killed a Resident Doctor and said it was suicide…..

Meanwhile such incident go on silently daily in this social milieu, which never see the light of day.

Rape, Patriarchy & The State

Rape in India is nothing but the exertion of feudal patriarchy that exists in India reflected in wife beating, neglect of the girl child, keeping women in Burkha’s and in isolation, and confining their role to household menial jobs. And as one goes up the caste ladder one sees these Brahminical/patriarchal values deeper entrenched. Women are expendable. What appears as a major incident off and on, occurs daily in milder forms in our private lives.

The setting up of committee after committee has not helped; and will not help unless the mindset is changed. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was justified on the grounds of gender justice. Rejecting feminist recommendations , the BHS introduced the death penalty in rape law; it expanded the regulation of sexuality, instead of protecting the bodily autonomy of all victims. The BNS was drafted during the mass scale and systematic sexual violence in Manipur. The Verma Committee that was formed after the Dec 2012 Dec gangrape in Delhi had recommended making command responsibility liable to prosecution especially when states ignore their responsibility to prevent mass scale sexual violence. This was ignored. The BNS also ignored the serious recommendations of autonomous women’s orgs to redress and prevent sexual violence.

In this case Kapil Sibil signed on the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) letter head paper on 21 August 2024 a supposed unanimous resolution in favour of the Bengal govt and against the victim. This was condemned the very next day by the entire SCBA in a letter which said “they strongly condemn the gruesome incident….. and stand in solidarity with the victim†. They further criticized the KB for his action. This pompous lawyer is waxing eloquent on You Tube programmes confusing the issue.

The state is heavily invested in funding forensics and technology. It used the Nirbhaya funds to install CCTVs in public places. Deploying CCTV or biometrics without any data protection for women; designing online courts without any safety audit; or using forensic techniques of power which create vulnerabilities and harm, instead of safety, accountability and deterrence.

Establishing tough laws and surveillance alone is not going to reduce the incidences as most rapists are people linked to the echelons of power and are easily able to circumvent the law with their money and political power. What is required is a change in mindset of the male and a united force to fight all forms of patriarchal manifestations – direct or subtle – particularly those of the more crude type. According to NCRB data there are 90 rape cases reported every day in 2022; the actual figure would be much larger as most rapes are not reported and a majority are said to be within the extended family.

As we go to the press the real culprits have not yet been apprehended; not only that, they are even off the radar of media reports which focus on the mental health of the one arrested person and the principal (who is being questioned but not even been arrested). Meanwhile the Bengal administration/police, rather than getting the real murderers, have been busy clamping down on schools where their children have been protesting.

Updated on August 25 2024