Kolkata doctor rape-murder: Parents allege police tried to hush up case, bribe them

KOLKATA: Family members of a doctor, who was raped and murdered here last month, joined the protesting medics at RG Kar hospital and accused the Kolkata Police of attempting to suppress the case by hurriedly cremating the body of the doctor. Participating in the protests at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the body of their daughter was recovered on August 9, the parents also accused a senior police officer of trying to bribe them after the incident came to light.

“The police, from the very beginning, tried to hush up the case. We were not allowed to see the body and had to wait at the police station while the body was taken for post-mortem examination. Later, when the body was handed over to us, a senior police official offered us money, which we immediately declined,” the father of the deceased doctor said.

The parents of the postgraduate trainee said that they joined the protest on Wednesday night to support the junior doctors fighting for justice for their daughter. After the incident came to light, protests erupted across the state, with people from various sectors demanding justice for the victim. Kolkata Police arrested a civic volunteer for allegedly being involved in the rape and murder of the trainee doctor.

The Calcutta High Court ordered the case to be handed over to the CBI in the second week of August. Later, the court ordered the transfer of the probe into the alleged financial irregularities at the hospital from a state-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the central agency. On Monday, the CBI arrested the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Dr Sandip Ghosh, in connection with alleged financial misconduct at the establishment.