Interrogating a Case of Rape and Murder | Arup Kumar Sen

The recent brutal event of rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata has created shock waves across the nation. On August 18, 2024, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of “alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata and related issues.†. A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, D. Y. Chandrachud, will hear the case on August 20, 2024.

The role of the Hospital administration and the State after the incident has created doubts in the public mind. The parents of the victim were initially informed by the hospital administration that she had committed suicide. The family of the victim and the junior doctors of the hospital suspected that the hospital authorities are trying to suppress the truth. The brutal murder took place on August 9, 2024. After viewing the lifeless body of the victim, the family reportedly went to the local police station to lodge a complaint of rape and murder. The junior doctors “held on to the body for several hours demanding a ‘fair probe’… They also complained of foul play.†(The Telegraph, August 10, 2024)

The state government acted irresponsibly in handling the case. Sandip Ghosh, who was the principal of the R G Kar Hospital at the time of the incident, resigned from his post on August 12, 2024, in the wake of widespread protests. However, he was appointed, within hours, as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital. The students and junior doctors of the Medical College vowed not to let the new principal in. Later the Calcutta High Court ordered that he be asked to go on leave immediately. (The Telegraph, August 14, 2024) A division bench of the Court transferred the case to the CBI, expressing displeasure over the handling of the case by the Kolkata Police.

We are not sure whether we will ever come to know the truth about the brutal murder and rape of the young doctor – who organized it and why? However, some alarming facts about management of the R G Kar hospital have come to our knowledge. The police arrested Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer attached to Kolkata Police, in connection with the case. He is considered an “important man†in the tout racket operative in the R. G. Kar hospital. He “enjoyed easy access to all departments†due to his role in the police welfare association. To put it in the words of The Indian Express (August 12, 2024): “The nexus of touts of which allegedly arrested accused Sanjay Roy was a part also allowed him access to every ward, room, and building of the hospital.†The same situation is alleged to prevail in other medical colleges: “This tout culture is rampant in all the medical colleges of the state. They enjoy support from the local administration, and due to their proximity to the ruling party representatives, they are fearless…†(Dr. Sams Mushafir, quoted in ibid.)

What is most alarming is that former colleagues and batchmates of Dr. Sandip Ghosh, former principal of R G Kar, raised number of accusations against him in the media, ranging from corruption and misconduct to ethical violations. (See www.indiatoday.in) Dr. Akhtar Ali, a former deputy superintendent of R G Kar, claimed that Dr. Ghosh “is a very corrupt person†. To put it in the words of Dr. Ali: “He used to fail students, and takes 20 per cent commission. In the case of tenders, R G Kar used to extort money from every work of medical college and hospital, and supply liquor to students in the guest house. He is like a mafia man, very powerful…†(Dr. Ali, quoted in ibid.)

The above facts convince us about the relevance of some insightful observations made by the critical scholar, Mahmood Mamdani, in a different context: “Human rights ignores this historical background, thereby depoliticizing violence and treating it as merely criminal. Where violence is merely criminal, we can only see it as a function of individual pathology. We cannot see it as a political outcome calling for a political solution.â€