The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation the probe into the rape and murder case of a junior doctor in Kolkata, reported Live Law.
A 31-year-old junior doctor was found dead at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The doctor, a postgraduate student, was found in the seminar hall at the hospital.
A division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya was hearing a batch of pleas, including that of the doctor’s parents, seeking an investigation into the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
At Tuesday’s hearing the bench asked the West Bengal government why it had initially registered the doctor’s death as a suicide.
“Why did you [state] register a case of unnatural death,” the bench asked. “This is not the way a victim should have been dealt with, especially when the victim was a doctor in the very same [college]. Does the principal require advice on all these things?”
The state government responded that the police record a case as unnatural death when no complaint is filed immediately, reported Bar and Bench.
The court also noted the parents’ allegations that the college principal tried to blame the victim and link her death to psychosis.
Dr Sandip Ghosh, the principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, who had resigned on Monday amid protests by the doctors, was appointed to the same post at another medical college in the city.
The court asked the state’s Trinamool Congress government why he was “rewarded in less than 12 hours” after stepping down “citing some moral responsibility”.
“He is virtually the guardian of all the doctors working there,” said the court. “If he doesn't show any sympathy or empathy, then who else would show?”
The bench said that Ghosh should not be working anywhere since he is so powerful that a government counsel is representing him.
Doctors’ protest
Meanwhile, doctors in several cities launched protests on Monday against the rape and murder in the Kolkata hospital. The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association announced a nationwide pause in elective services on Monday. It also urged the Centre to bring in laws to protect healthcare workers.
The strikes have disrupted medical emergency services in several hospitals.
The All India Institute Of Medical Sciences in Delhi, saw a 20% reduction in registrations, reported The Indian Express. The hospital sees the largest Out-Patient Department crowd with 10,000 patients each day.
Surgeries, admissions, and lab services also dipped by 80%, 35% and 25% respectively, the newspaper reported.
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