Kolkata Doctor’s Gruesome Rape-Murder at RG Kar Hospital!!

Kolkata Doctor’s Gruesome Rape-Murder at RG Kar Hospital!!

KAKALI DAS

Trigger Warning: This discussion involves content related to sexual assault and violence, which some may find distressing.

I would like to draw your attention to the tragic case of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor who was brutally raped and murdered at RG Kar Hospital, Kolkata, within the very hospital where she was dedicatedly serving her patients.

The resident doctor had been on an exhausting 36-hour shift when she finally needed to rest around 2 AM. With no designated resting area available, she had no choice but to use a seminar room inside the hospital—a space that, alarmingly, had no CCTV surveillance. Tragically, she was found raped and murdered the next day.

The post-mortem report revealed that the doctor was brutally throttled to death, with her thyroid cartilage fractured due to strangulation. Multiple injuries were found on her abdomen, lips, fingers and left leg.

The report further indicated that she had been bleeding eyes, mouth and private parts. Disturbingly, the injuries in her private parts were described as the result of “perverted sexuality” and “genital torture,” highlighting the extreme violence and cruelty inflicted upon her.

The police have arrested an individual named Sanjoy Roy who has been charged with the crime, despite not being an employee of the hospital. He was a civic volunteer who had been granted access to every department within the hospital.

On Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court directed the police to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), calling for more expedited action.

The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), which had gone on strike demanding accountability, a thorough investigation, punishment, an apology from the West Bengal police, accountability from the Chief Minister, and safety while performing their duties, decided to call off the strike after meeting with Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Thursday. The strike was called off as the Minister agreed to their demands.

The association of medical doctors from across the country has written to Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, inquiring about the bill or law framed in 2019 that penalized anyone who assaulted a doctor inside hospitals but was subsequently shelved and never passed. They urged that the bill be revived and implemented. Resident doctors from Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Jammu, Madhya Pradesh, and Bengaluru joined the protest.

However, the medics at the central government-run AIIMS, the Indira Gandhi Hospital, and other resident doctors’ associations, including the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA), stated on Tuesday that their protest would continue until a central law to prevent attacks on medical personnel is implemented and a concrete solution is reached.

However, this rape and murder is the latest in a series of attacks against resident doctors. Resident doctors, often referred to as junior doctors, are assigned to emergency rooms, perform rounds and patient checks at regular intervals, assist in surgeries, and work long shifts that can extend into days without breaks. They are not provided adequate rest, sufficient food, or necessary security.

Often, when patients don’t survive, families become upset and physically attack junior doctors. Also, the doctors aren’t even provided with proper places to rest—if they get an hour’s break, there’s nowhere for them to close their eyes.

A report by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) released in 2015 revealed that 75% of doctors in India have faced some form of workplace violence. Another report by the California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences and Psychology documented 18 brutal attacks against doctors inside hospitals in India during 2018 and 2019 alone.

In 2023, a junior doctor or resident doctor at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi was attacked with a screwdriver by a patient.

Resident doctors have repeatedly protested the lack of safety they face while working and the inhumane conditions under which they are required to work, yet the situation remains unchanged. Despite repeated assurances from central and state governments, nothing has improved.

I want to remind you that government hospitals operate with our taxpayer money and are intended to serve the poor. Government medical colleges and hospitals are also funded by our taxes—they are meant to educate and train future doctors.

So, where is all that money going when patients in these hospitals are not receiving adequate care, the facilities are overcrowded, and doctors are frequently assaulted? And then we complain when these doctors go overseas, no longer wanting to serve in India or work in public hospitals.

This is not just a fight for the association of resident doctors who are already struggling—it is a fight for all of us to demand better. As a society, we are already paying for free healthcare that we are not receiving; instead, we are met with death and despair. If we don’t take a stand now, it’s as if the COVID-19 pandemic taught us nothing. We must realize that our entire healthcare system needs attention, an overhaul, and our support when we are healthy, not just when we are sick.

14-08-2024

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