The body of the postgraduate resident doctor was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The doctor was first raped and then killed. The doctor’s parents first suspected murder around 3 pm that day. However, the police were very slow in filing an FIR. The case was not registered until 11.45 pm. The body was handed over to the family for cremation at around 8.30 pm.
The Times of India report reveals that assistant professor Sumit Kumar Tapadar informed the police about the body found in the seminar room at 9.45 am and urged them to lodge an FIR. However, the police received an official written complaint from the hospital authorities at 2.45 pm.
The police timeline showed that they received information about the death at 10.10 am and reached the spot at 10.30 am. The Kolkata Police squad reached the spot at 11 am. Senior officials arrived next at 12.30 pm. By 12.45 pm, a case of unnatural death was registered.
The trainee doctor’s father has criticised the delay in filing the FIR. “After we saw the body at 3 pm, we told everyone that it was a case of murder. We lodged our complaint around 5 or 5.30 pm. But the formal FIR was filed hours later. Only the police know why this happened,” he said on Tuesday.
Supreme Court reprimanded Mamta government
During the hearing in the Supreme Court, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also questioned the delay. Describing the incident as horrific, the Supreme Court on Tuesday reprimanded the West Bengal government for the delay in filing an FIR in the case. Taking suo motu cognizance of the matter, the court said that this incident raises a systemic issue regarding the safety of doctors across India. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, which took suo motu cognizance of the incident, said that if women are not able to go to work and the working conditions are not safe, then we are depriving them of equality.
The apex court criticised the West Bengal government for the delay in filing an FIR in the rape-murder case and asked what the hospital authorities were doing. The bench also comprised Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra. The bench said, “It seems that the crime was detected early in the morning but the principal of the medical college tried to call it a suicide.”
The bench also pulled up the Kolkata Police and asked how a crowd of thousands of people entered the RG Kar Medical College. It asked how the principal of RG Kar Hospital was immediately transferred to another college when his conduct was under investigation.
The Supreme Court said that the West Bengal government should not use force on the protesters as this is a time for national purification. The court said that a crowd of 7,000 people cannot enter RG Kar Hospital without the knowledge of Kolkata Police.