The CBI alleged in the Supreme Court that there was an attempt to cover up the rape and killing the trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital by the police.
Kolkata Rape And Murder: Crime Scene Altered, Attempt To Cover Up Case: CBI to SC
New Delhi: In the latest development in the Kolkata rape and murder case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday has alleged in the Supreme Court that the attempts were made to cover up the case of the 31-year-old post-graduate female trainee doctor by the local police as the crime scene at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was altered by the time the central agency took over the investigation.
Appearing in the court on behalf of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that senior doctors of the hospital as well as the victim’s colleagues had asked for videography, which means even they had felt that there was a cover-up.
“We entered the probe on the fifth day. Before that, whatever was collected by the local police was given to us. The investigation itself was a challenge because the scene of offence was altered. The FIR was registered only after the (victim’s) cremation at 11:45 pm.
“First, the parents of the victim were informed by the deputy superintendent (of the hospital) that she was not well. When they reached the hospital, they were told that she had committed suicide….. Fortunately, the colleagues of the deceased insisted for videography. This suggests that they were suspecting a cover-up,” Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The solicitor general further submitted that when a call was made to the Tala police station in the morning of August 9, the doctors told the cops that the victim was unconscious, although she was already dead.
Appearing in the court on behalf of the West Bengal government, senior advocate Kapil Sibal opposed Mehta’s submissions, saying everything was videographed and nothing was altered at the crime scene.
Sibal said the Kolkata Police followed the procedure scrupulously and the CBI’s status report only attempts to muddy the waters.
He said the CBI must inform the court what progress it has made in the case in the last one week. During the hearing, Mehta criticised Sibal for allegedly laughing while he was pointing out the gaps in the registration of the FIR by the police.
“A girl has lost her life in the most inhuman and undignified manner. Somebody has died. Do not at least laugh,” Mehta told Sibal.
The solicitor general said this is not an attempt to muddy the waters but to remove mud from the waters because the situation involved is delicate.
Sibal said everybody acknowledges that the incident is “tragic and barbaric”.
The Supreme Court has expressed disapproval at the West Bengal government. Its late submission of the FIR and allowing countless instigators to vandalize a state hospital are points of contention. The court didn’t mince words, dubbing the entire occurrence as “horrifying”.
The rape and subsequent murder of a junior doctor has catalyzed nation-rattling protests. The young doctor, who suffered grievous injuries, was found lifeless in a seminar hall of the hospital’s chest department the morning of August 9th. A civic volunteer from the Kolkata Police was linked to this horrific act and taken into custody a day after the discovery. In a vital turn of events, the Calcutta High Court transferred the case from local police to the Central Bureau of Investigation by August 13, leading to the commencement of a new investigation on August 14.
(with PTI inputs)
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