The semi-nude body of a woman post-graduate trainee doctor was found inside the seminar hall of a government-run hospital in Kolkata on Friday, with police saying prima facie she was sexually assaulted and murdered.
The victim’s mother said her daughter was found in a semi-naked condition with her spectacles broken. (Representational image)
The 28-year-old deceased was a second-year student of the respiratory medicine department of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Her body, with multiple injury marks, was found in the chest seminar room on the fourth floor of the emergency building, a senior police officer said.
“Preliminary autopsy report suggests that she was sexually assaulted and murdered. We have registered a case of murder,” the senior officer said, adding a special investigation team (SIT) has been set up to probe the case.
The preliminary autopsy report, the officer added, also confirmed presence of blood marks on the woman’s private parts, mouth and eyes while there were injuries on her face, belly, left ankle, neck, right ring finger and lips. “A bone near the neck region was broken suggesting that she was probably throttled to death,” the officer said, adding the incident took place sometime between 3 am and 6 am.
The victim’s mother said her daughter was found in a semi-naked condition with her spectacles broken.
“My daughter was raped and murdered,” her father told reporters. “She is gone. We can’t bring her back. At least we should get justice. We last spoke to her around 11 pm on Thursday.”
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee was learnt to have called the victim’s parents and assured them of an unbiased probe.
The 28-year-old was on duty on Thursday night, a doctor at the hospital told reporters, requesting anonymity. “She also had dinner with her juniors and later went to the seminar room since there is no separate on-call room to take some rest.”
On Friday morning, her body was found in the seminar room on the fourth floor of the emergency department building. “A security guard first spotted the body. Her laptop, bag and mobile were found from the spot,” the doctor added.
After receiving information about the incident, Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal and West Bengal health secretary NS Nigam visited the hospital and held a meeting with senior hospital officials.
Police have collected the duty roster of doctors and other staff who were on duty on Thursday night at the hospital.
“Investigation is going on. We are talking to doctors, nurses and others who were on duty with her last night. CCTV footage are being checked. However, there were no cameras installed in the seminar room,” the IPS officer cited above said.
The incident triggered a protest at the hospital, with fellow PG trainees and doctors at the hospital demanded that the autopsy of the body be conducted in the presence of a judicial magistrate.
“There should a judicial magistrate in the autopsy team along with two PG trainees and the family members,” a doctor at the hospital told reporters. “We have also demanded that the autopsy should be videographed.”
Initially, PG trainees and doctors had refused to hand over the body to the police until their demands are met.
Officials familiar with the matter said the hospital has set up an 11-member probe committee, headed by Dr B Mukherjee, dean of the students’ body, to look into the incident.
The incident also triggered a political row in the eastern state, with the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of trying to suppress the incident while the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) said the government will ensure a transparent probe.
“We demand a CBI probe. The state machinery has failed completely. We want the autopsy should take place in a central government-run hospital,” BJP legislator Agnimitra Paul told reporters at the hospital, where a group of party leaders and workers held a demonstration.
The TMC hit back, with party MP Santanu Sen saying: “This is not a BJP-ruled state where cases are supressed and fake encounters are done. Under the Mamata Banerjee administration, the probe will take place in a transparent and unbiased manner and the guilty won’t be spared.”
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