Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and Abhijit Mondal, the former officer-in-charge of Tala police station, were granted bail by a high court on Friday after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to submit the chargesheet within the allotted 90 days, sparking protests in Kolkata.
On August 9, Ghosh and Mondal were taken into custody in relation to the rape and murder of a 31-year-old medical student at RG Kar Hospital. Her family had specifically requested a second autopsy, and they were charged with “tampering with evidence” and “facilitating the hasty cremation of the woman doctor.”
Along with other medical groups and political parties, the parents of the 31-year-old trainee physician who was raped and killed marched to the streets to seek justice for the victim.
The victim’s father told reporters while attending a protest rally in Salt Lake on Saturday, “We don’t know what the CBI is planning. We are, however, not losing hope. We will fight till the end to get justice. The legal battle and the fight on the streets will continue in parallel”.
In the afternoon, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) staged a protest rally at the CGO complex in Salt Lake, traveling from Karunamoyee to the CBI headquarters.
Debasish Halder, a member of the WBJDF, said, “Today, men like Ghosh have been granted bail. Tomorrow, he may be reinstated in a reputed medical college. We will remain on the roads until we get justice. We had faith in the CBI, but what is the agency doing?’.
Earlier in the day, the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) [SUCI(C)] had planned a protest march along the same path.
Chandidas Bhattacharya, SUCI(C) leader, told the reporters, “We will submit a deputation to the CBI, but it will be just a blank paper because we are all shocked and left speechless. We had a lot of expectations, but the CBI has done nothing”.
The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) held a protest rally in central Kolkata, while Congress workers demonstrated outside the Nizam Palace, home of the CBI’s other wing.
At a demonstration on Saturday afternoon at Esplanade, the Joint Platform of Doctors, an umbrella organization of several organizations, declared that medical professionals, healthcare workers, and people from all walks of life will soon go to the streets.
Dr Utpal Banerjee, a member of the Joint Platform of Doctors, said, “We are disappointed and angry. We will soon hit the streets in protest. We want to send a message to the state government and the federal agency that they need to do everything to ensure the girl gets justice”.
As solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, informed the Chief Justice of India’s bench on Tuesday that the Bengal government had not approved the federal agency’s request for prosecution proceedings against Ghosh and Mondal, the Service Doctors’ Forum (SDF) has written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, requesting her intervention.
The letter read, “We implore you to make sure that everyone who was a part of the horrifying rape and murder at RG Kar Medical College, as well as those who tried to hide evidence, are brought to justice as soon as possible.”
In addition, the SDF letter called for the state government officials who denied the CBI’s request to begin proceedings against Ghosh and Mondal to take exemplary punishment.
Senior lawyer Vrinda Grover, who was representing the victim’s family, has withdrawn from the high-profile case too. “We have already held talks with another advocate. We will continue to fight,” said the victim’s father.
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