Kolkata rape horror: Cal HC raps police for hospital vandalism

Kolkata/ New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court on Friday described the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital as an "absolute failure of state machinery," while the doctor's parents told the CBI that a few interns and physicians of the reputed medical facility were allegedly involved in her rape and murder.

Kolkata Police has arrested 25 people for their alleged involvement in the early morning vandalism on August 15, with Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal admitting that, despite adequate security, they were unprepared for the violence and were caught off-guard. The HC's division bench led by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam expressed disbelief that police intelligence failed to detect the gathering of nearly 7,000 people at the hospital in the early hours of Independence Day. "It's hard to believe that police intelligence did not have information about a mob of such magnitude assembling at the hospital," Chief Justice Sivagnanam remarked.

The doctor, whose body was found on August 9, was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty. A civic volunteer was arrested the following day in connection with the crime. The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the CBI to probe the crime. Healthcare services in the state have remained crippled for eight consecutive days in a row due to the cease-work by junior doctors demanding justice for their colleague, with emergency and outpatient departments in most state-run hospitals still closed, causing significant distress among patients.

After learning about renovation work on one floor of the hospital where the body of the woman doctor was found, the Chief Justice said the court could order the closure of the medical establishment. The bench directed police and the administrator of the hospital to file separate affidavits narrating the “true state of affairs” at the hospital and all connected matters on August 21 when the matter will be heard again. Meanwhile, the CBI has intensified its probe into the alleged rape and murder of the woman doctor, following information from her parents that several interns and physicians from hospital may be involved in the crime. The CBI has also conducted a reconstruction of the crime scene with the accused and the probe is focusing on at least 30 people whose names have been provided by the victim’s family.