Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance of rape and murder of woman doctor at RG Kar Hospital

The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the gruesome rape and murder of a junior woman doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, amid massive mass protests across the country over the heinous crime.

• Also read: As doctors take to the streets in protest, hospitals keep essential services open

A three-judge Bench presided by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud will hear the matter on August 20. The case is titled “Alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata and related issues” in the supplementary cause list of the apex court for Tuesday.

Significantly, the Calcutta High Court on Friday came down heavily on the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government over the vandalism of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the 31-year-old doctor was found dead.

Earlier, the High Court had grilled the government on how it did not take steps to prevent the mob violence near the crime scene, observing that the rampage at the State-run hospital was an absolute failure of State machinery.

In the wee hours of Independence Day, miscreants entered the hospital and vandalised portions of the medical facility, when a massive mass movement was taking place across the State to protest against the rape and murder of the on-duty doctor.

The High Court had directed the police and the hospital authority to file affidavits on the situation at the medical facility.

Police arrested 12 people in connection with the rampage at the State-run hospital. Several others were also detained based on suspicion.

Football clubs protest

With mass protests escalating in Bengal, football fans on Sunday staged protests near Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata against the brutal rape and murder of the woman doctor. Hundreds of supporters of two major football clubs--East Bengal and Mohun Bagan--gathered outside the stadium with placards and posters even as a Durand Cup match between the two clubs was cancelled.

The Durand Cup match between arch-rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan was cancelled with police citing concerns over the law and order situation.

The city witnessed a rare sight when the supporters of the two football clubs held each other’s flags and raised slogans demanding justice for the victim’s family. Later, supporters of the Mohammedan SC, another major club in Kolkata, also joined the agitation.

Police and RAF resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the supporters from the stadium.

‘Collapse of law and order’

Talking to the media, All India Football Federation President Kalyan Chaubey, said, “It is very shameful. Law and order has completely collapsed in West Bengal. A football match could not happen.”

“Look at the police deployment (at Salt Lake stadium), it looks like a riot is going on,” Chaubey, also a BJP leader, said.

Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the CPI-M and the BJP of being responsible for the rampage at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Banerjee, who led a protest rally in Kolkata on Friday, demanded death penalty for the guilty in the rape and murder of the woman doctor.

The Calcutta High Court on August 13 transferred the investigation in the case to the CBI. The central investigating agency took custody of the prime accused, Sanjay Roy, a Kolkata Police civic volunteer and started questioning him.

The body of the junior doctor was found in the hospital’s seminar room on August 9.