Kolkata doctor's rape & murder: Questions raised in court over communication goof-up

Amid the nation-wide outrage over the rape and murder of a female doctor at Kolkata's R.G. Kar Medical College last week, questions were raised in the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday over the communication goof-up on the part of the hospital authorities, including keeping the victim's parents waiting for information even after her bruised body was found at the seminar room on the morning of August 9.

During the hearing of a clutch of petitions by a division bench comprising Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hirinmay Bhattacharya, the counsel for one of the petitioners, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, pointed out that after the body was found, the victim's family members received a phone call from the hospital at around 10.30 a.m. informing that she was 'sick'.

"However, 15 minutes later, the victim's parents were told that their daughter committed suicide. The family members were also made to sit for three hours during which they were not allowed to see the body. There are also complaints that the police advised the family members to somehow 'settle' the matter.

"The Chief Minister had said that the investigation will be handed over to the CBI after seven days.

We doubt that evidence will be tampered with by then just as it happened in the chit fund case. So we demand an immediate CBI probe into the matter," said Bhattacharya, who's also a CPI-M Rajya Sabha member.

The Chief Justice then observed, "Let him tell the truth... something is missing here." Bhattacharya also argued that prima facie evidence suggests that the rape and murder could not have been committed by one person, and there were more partners in the crime.

The initial post-mortem report, sources said, claims bleeding from both eyes and mouth besides multiple injuries on different parts of the body, including face, nails, vagina, left leg, belly, ankle, right hand, lips, and neck, suggesting the involvement of more than one individual.

Meanwhile, in a hurriedly called press conference on Tuesday afternoon that lasted for just four minutes, Health Secretary N.S. Nigam issued an appeal to the protesting medical students and junior doctors to ensure that normal operations at the state-run hospitals resume at the earliest.

However, he refused to take any questions from the mediapersons.

(With inputs from IANS)