The Calcutta High Court on Friday criticised the lack of security measures in place to stop the violence that broke out at Kolkata’s state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Thursday, reported Live Law.
Individuals who had gathered to protest the rape and murder of a junior doctor were assaulted by a mob of 5,000 to 7,000 persons that broke into and vandalised the premises. The court noted the “absolute failure of state machinery” to prevent the attack.
The mob attacked demonstrators, including doctors, and also damaged police cars. Twelve persons were detained on Thursday for vandalism.
The 31-year-old junior doctor and postgraduate student was found dead in the seminar hall of the college on August 9. The incident led to widespread protests across the country.
On Friday, a division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya was hearing a batch of petitions concerning the rape and murder case.
The West Bengal government told the High Court that security arrangements were in place at the medical college, but police personnel had been overwhelmed by the mob.
In response, the bench noted that the police had an intelligence wing. “If 7,000 people were to gather, it would be hard to believe that the state police did not know,” the court said. “You pass Section 144 CrPC orders for any reason, but when so much commotion is going on, you should have cordoned off the entire area.”
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure prohibits the assembly of four or more persons.
“This is an absolute failure of state machinery,” the court told the state government. “Could this vandalism have been prevented is the question. Who did it comes later. What is the reason for breaking all facilities?”
The court also questioned the urgent need to carry out renovation work near the area where the rape and murder of the junior doctor took place at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Bar and Bench reported.
It asked the state government to submit a reply to claims that the renovation work was being carried out to “wipe out” evidence from the scene of the crime.
However, the state government denied the allegations. “The demolition work that happened was not near the [place of occurrence],” the counsel for the state government said, adding that the renovation work was for a restroom for doctors.
The court suggested that the state government file an affidavit with photographs to show that the crime scene was still intact, according to Bar and Bench.
“Let [an] affidavit be filed,” Sivagnanam said. “You can substantiate with photographs. We will hear with an open mind.”
The bench sought a reply from the state government on different aspects of the case by August 20. The matter was listed for further hearing on August 21.
On Tuesday, the bench transferred the rape and murder case from the Kolkata Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation. It also asked the state 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.
Mamata Banerjee to hold a protest on Friday
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a protest on Friday to demand that the Central Bureau of Investigation expedite its probe in the case, reported India Today.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien said that the chief minister was holding the protest to demand daily updates from the Central Bureau of Investigation on the probe.
In a post on social media platform X, O’Brien said: “The deadline given by the CM to Kolkata Police to complete the investigation was August 17. The same must apply to CBI”.
O’Brien noted that the police had arrested one person in the case. “Justice will happen only when CBI nabs ALL involved and sends case to a fast-track court,” he said.
Soon after the incident, the police arrested a man identified as Sanjoy Roy in connection with the case.
The Trinamool Congress leader added: “The urgent need of the hour is swift justice and the harshest punishment for the culprits. No one who committed this barbaric act must be spared.”
O’Brien also expressed concern that the case would be “quietly buried” now that it was being investigated by a central agency.
Also read:
- What a brutal crime in a Kolkata hospital reveals about the dangers women doctors face in India
- Reclaim the Night, Kolkata edition: I walked with thousands of women for justice and dignity
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