Kolkata:
The parents of the 31-year-old doctor, who was raped and murdered on duty at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, have approached Calcutta High Court, flagging concerns in the CBI’s investigation and seeking the court’s intervention in the case that shook the nation.
The single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh said the matter is before the Supreme Court and the bench can hear it only after it is clear if the top court is monitoring the probe. The next hearing on the matter could take place around January 15.
In their petition before the high court, the doctor’s parents have said they are “aggrieved” and “dissatisfied” with the central agency’s investigation into the rape-murder case. The parents said “relevant witnesses who were present with the daughter of the petitioners at the night of the incident have not been arrayed in the list of witnesses and nor being questioned till date”. “From the purport of the entire examination and investigation, it would be evident that the entire trial is being conducted in a manner to implicate and target only one person who is accused Sanjay Roy in exclusion of the other suspects. From the post-mortem report itself it is evident that Sanjay Roy cannot be the only person who had conducted the offence,” the petition says.
A civic volunteer, Roy was arrested by Kolkata Police and charged with the rape and murder of the doctor. His custody passed on to the CBI after it took over the investigation following a court order.
The parents noted that the CBI has not filed a supplementary chargesheet naming Dr Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College, and Abhijeet Mondal, officer-in-charge of the local police station. Ghosh and Mondal were granted bail on December 13 after the CBI did not file a chargesheet within 90 days. While Mondal has walked out, Ghosh is in jail in a financial irregularities case.
The doctor’s parents have said the trial court is proceeding expeditiously on the Supreme Court’s directions. But the investigation has been “compromised”, they claimed.
“Unless further investigation is directed the case cannot be brought to a logical ending and the other suspects would remain untouched owing to the manner of investigation. Once the trial is concluded, the petitioner shall be remediless as justice would be compromised,” they said.
The 31-year-old doctor, a postgraduate trainee, was found raped and murdered in a seminar room of the state-run hospital on the morning of August 9. The chilling incident sparked a nationwide conversation on the safety of women in the workplace and the need for robust measures to protect healthcare staff on duty.
