North 24 Parganas (West Bengal):

As the Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court is set to announce the verdict of RG Kar’s rape-murder case today, the father of the deceased doctor said on Saturday that whatever punishment is appropriate will be decided by the court.

Speaking to ANI, he asserted that they will continue to knock on the door of the court until they get justice in the case.

“Not just one, but the DNA report shows the presence of four boys and one girl. We will feel some relief when the accused are punished. Until we get justice, we will keep knocking on the doors of the court and will also seek the support of the people of the country,” the father said.

He also alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation has done nothing in the matter.

“The CBI has done nothing in this matter. There is no question of satisfaction here. We have raised several questions before the High Court and the Supreme Court. We have sought answers from the court itself. We did not seek answers from the CBI, but the court assigned all responsibility to the CBI,” he said.

“In two months, the court reviewed all the evidence, and whatever punishment is appropriate will be decided by the court,” the father of RG Kar victim added.

He also mentioned that they have written letters to the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, and the Law Minister, but have not received any response from any of them.

The case, which involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital’s seminar room, sparked widespread protests. After the incident, Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer at the hospital, was arrested in connection with the crime.

In November last year, the CBI filed a chargesheet concerning financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The chargesheet named Sandip Ghosh and others, including Dr. Ashish Kumar Pandey, Biplab Singha, Suman Hazra, and Afsar Ali Khan, for their involvement in financial misconduct. This investigation was initiated following an order by the Calcutta High Court.

In addition to the corruption case, Sandip Ghosh faced questioning regarding the murder case. As part of the probe, the CBI conducted polygraph tests on him.

A delay in filing the chargesheet resulted in bail being granted to the accused, including Abhijit Mondal and Sandip Ghosh.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the ghastly rape and murder of a woman junior doctor of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, is trying to retrieve the deleted history of the mobile phone calls and messages which Ashish Pandey made on August 9, the morning of which the body of the victim was discovered at the seminar hall within the hospital premises.

Pandey is one of the confidants of Sandip Ghosh, the former and controversial principal of RG Kar.

Sources said the investigating officials have come across some circumstantial evidence that indicates that the history of such calls and messages from Pandey’s mobile phone were deleted in due course.

The investigating officials believe that once the data on this count are retrieved it might lead to new angles in the twin conspiracies, the first related to tampering of evidence in the rape and murder case and the second related to the rampant financial irregularities at RG Kar.

Sources added that the investigating officials suspect that these deleted calls and messages were mainly related to a conversation between Pandey and his mentor Sandip Ghosh, against whom the central agency officials are conducting parallel probes in both the rape and murder as well the financial irregularities case.

In the rape and murder case, the main charges against Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal are — misleading the investigation and tempering of the evidence when the initial probe in the matter was being carried out by the Kolkata Police.

The name of Pandey first surfaced in the second week of September, when the CBI officials traced that he had put up at a hotel in Salt Lake on the night of August 9, on the morning of which the body of the doctor was discovered within the hospital premises.

On October 3, the CBI sleuths arrested Pandey in connection with the financial irregularities case. He is currently under judicial custody.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Lucknow:

BSP supremo Mayawati on Thursday said incidents of crime against women were “extremely worrying”, and asked political parties to rise above party politics and take “strict steps” to prevent them.

Her remarks come against the backdrop of the nationwide outcry over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata and also cases of rape of girls in other parts of the country.

“The incidents of rape, murder and suicide, especially of innocent girls and women, happening in Bengal, Badlapur in Maharashtra, Bihar, and Kannauj, Agra and Farrukhabad districts of Uttar Pradesh are extremely sad and worrying,” the former chief minister said on X.

1. देश में कभी बंगाल, कभी महाराष्ट्र के बदलापुर, कभी बिहार में तो कभी यूपी के कन्नौज, आगरा व फर्रूखाबाद ज़िले आदि में भी मासूम बच्चियों नाबालिग़ व महिलाओं पर ख़ासकर रेप, हत्या व आत्महत्या आदि की हो रही घटनाएं अति-दुःखद व चिन्ताजनक। 1/2

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) August 29, 2024

“The Centre and all state governments should rise above party politics and take strict steps in this matter so that such incidents stop happening. Politics should not be done in its guise. This is the need of the hour and also in the interest of women,” she added.

2. केन्द्र व सभी राज्य सरकारें, इस मामले में दलगत राजनीति से ऊपर उठकर सख़्त कदम उठाएं, ताकि ऐसी घटनायें जल्दी होना बन्द हो, ना कि इसकी आड़ में राजनीति की जाए, यही समय की मांग है तथा यही महिलाओं के हित में भी है। 2/2

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) August 29, 2024

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)