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Time of India
30-04-2025
- Time of India
Stopovers, brief stays turned fatal, rue kin & friends of guests who choked to death
Kolkata: Manoj Patra (43) from Jagatsinghpur in Odisha was supposed to catch a bus to Bihar on Wednesday morning, said his family friend Mahendra Pandey outside the NRS morgue on Wednesday afternoon while waiting for Patra's body. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now He, along with Dusmanta Nayak (46) and Dusmanta Kumar Swain (46), both from Haripapa village, checked into the hotel on Tuesday as a stopover before taking the bus to Purnia to attend the inauguration of a wheat mandi. The trio were among 14 people who lost their lives. "I received a phone call from my friend saying that his cousin is no more. There was a fire and his body is at NRS. The family was still in shock and took a train to Kolkata. I reached the morgue to ensure that the process for his body release can at least start," Pandey said. Two of Patra's relatives reached the morgue by afternoon, but they wished not to speak to media. Like Pandey, many local friends came to help the families of those who choked to death at Hotel Rituraj on Tuesday. Kolkata resident Narayan Agarwal rushed to the spot after hearing about the fire where his friend Rajesh Kumar Santuka (61) checked in on Monday. Santuka's body was kept at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. A businessman by profession, Santuka reached the hotel at 6:30 pm after a busy day. He was due to catch a train from Howrah at 8:30 pm. "He went to the hotel to get some rest and was perhaps asleep when the fire broke out. I tried calling him, but his phone was switched off. That's when I rushed to the spot," his friend said. The family reached Kolkata from Cuttack early on Wednesday morning. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Another Kolkata resident, Prabhu Ram, a friend of deceased Manoj Kumar Paswan, said, "I have known him for more than two decades as we were neighbours. On Monday, we went to offer prayers at a Shiv temple and distributed prasad among friends. Who knew it would be my last meeting with him?" While friends and families spoke about the probable activities of their loved ones on the fateful night, two friends, Siddharth Sharma and Sahil Agarwal, remembered the helplessness they felt at not being able to rescue their 29-year-old friend Niraj Kumar, who was inside the hotel. While Siddharth and Sahil were leaving the hotel to buy something, they detected smoke and stepped outside the hotel to assess the situation. They tried contacting their friend, who was inside at the time, but could not save him. His family members arrived in Kolkata to collect his body from RG Kar on Wednesday. (With inputs from Subhojyoti Kanjilal)
News18
29-04-2025
- News18
'Her Phone Has All The Answers': RG Kar Victim's Father Says CBI Presented Two 'Drastically Different' Reports
Last Updated: Sanjay Roy, a former police civic volunteer, was found guilty in the case and was awarded life imprisonment till death. Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape case has taken a new turn with the victim's father expressing strong dissatisfaction with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), pointing out inconsistencies in their investigative reports. A postgraduate trainee doctor was brutally raped and murdered at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August 2024. Sanjay Roy, a former police civic volunteer, was found guilty and was awarded life imprisonment till death. On Tuesday, the father of the victim who was brutally raped and murdered claimed that her mobile number was used after her death, pointing out inconsistencies in the investigative reports of the CBI. 'CBI has presented two drastically different reports in the Calcutta High Court and the Sealdah district Court. We will tell the High Court today that two different status reports are being presented. Even Supreme Court judges could not believe the gravity of the report submitted to them. We had faith in the CBI, but now we are losing all hope," news agency ANI reported. #WATCH | North 24 Parganas, West Bengal | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder victim's father says, '… CBI has presented two drastically different reports in the Calcutta High Court and the Sealdah district Court… We will tell this today in the High Court that… — ANI (@ANI) April 29, 2025 The victim's father claimed that her mobile phone, which is reportedly in CBI's custody, was accessed to leave a common WhatsApp group. He alleged that the CBI knows the identities of those involved in his daughter's rape and murder but is withholding key information. 'CBI knows the perpetrators behind the rape and murder of my daughter but it is not revealing the details…," he added. Following the Calcutta High Court's disapproval of the local police investigation, the case was reassigned to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Subsequently, the CBI apprehended multiple suspects, including the primary accused, Sanjay Roy, who received a conviction for the offence. Roy was arrested on August 10, a day after the 31-year-old medic's body was found in the seminar room of the hospital. He was declared guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and throttling her to death, and was convicted under Sections 64, 66 and 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The Supreme Court conducted proceedings in a suo motu case regarding the assault and murder of the trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The victim's parents received legal representation from Senior Advocate Karuna Nundy.
Business Upturn
29-04-2025
- Business Upturn
RG Kar victim's father alleges discrepancies in CBI probe, says 'no faith left in Indian legal system'
The father of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder victim has voiced deep frustration over the handling of the case, accusing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of presenting conflicting reports and eroding his trust in the Indian legal system. Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, the grieving father alleged that the CBI had submitted 'two drastically different reports' — one to the Calcutta High Court and another to the Sealdah district court. 'We will tell this today in the High Court that two different status reports are being presented. Even Supreme Court judges could not believe the gravity of the report submitted to them. We had faith in the CBI, but now we are losing all hope,' he said. He further claimed that the CBI is aware of the perpetrators involved in his daughter's rape and murder but is withholding critical information. 'CBI knows the perpetrators behind the rape and murder of my daughter but it is not revealing the details,' he alleged. Raising fresh concerns, the father revealed that unauthorized access to his daughter's phone may have occurred after her death. He said that they were alerted when her WhatsApp account suddenly exited a group chat months after her death — even though her phone had been seized as part of the investigation. On Monday, the parents submitted a petition to the Additional District and Sessions Judge at Sealdah court, alleging that the SIM card associated with the victim's phone remained active for three months after her death, and her WhatsApp account was accessed during this period. 'We have shared a screenshot of the WhatsApp chat from that number. If the phone was part of the investigation, why is the WhatsApp chat being altered? We believe there has been manipulation,' said Amartya De, the lawyer representing the victim's parents. 'We cannot meet any of the investigating officers of the agency. We don't have any update from them. There is no way we could inform the CBI. So we decided to update the court,' the father added. The CBI's counsel, Partha Sarathi Datta, informed the court that the investigation is still ongoing. He noted that 36 witness testimonies have been recorded so far, and that the agency has collected 200 photographs, videos, and 32 CCTV footages related to the incident. Additionally, around 100 complaint letters have been received. The next date for the CBI to submit a status report is set for June. RG Kar rape case: What has happened so far? The case dates back to August 9, 2024, when a 31-year-old female medic was raped and murdered while on duty at Kolkata's state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, sparking national outrage. Earlier this year, on January 20, the main accused, Sanjay Roy, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Sealdah sessions court. However, the victim's parents have since sought a broader investigation, claiming that others may have been involved in the crime. The case continues to expose deep cracks in the investigation process, with the family now looking to the courts to intervene and ensure justice for their daughter.
India Today
28-04-2025
- India Today
RG Kar victim's number used for few months after her death: Family's big claim
The family of the trainee doctor, who was raped and murdered at Kolkata's RG Kar hospital last year, claimed on Monday that her daughter's number was removed from a WhatsApp group after her death. They also alleged that her mobile number was used after her family made the claims before a lower court in Kolkata, where their lawyer submitted a confidential paper in a sealed envelope to the judge that they wanted to share some information with the court regarding what they could gather from different the claim in writing before the court, the victim's family alleged that the trainee doctor's mobile number was used for a few months after her death. They claimed that such information came to their notice from the activities of a WhatsApp group. On August 9 last year, the trainee doctor was found in a semi-naked state at the seminar hall of the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, triggering nationwide protests. On January 20, a Kolkata court sentenced Sanjoy Roy, the convict in the rape and murder case, to life imprisonment. Roy was a civic volunteer associated with Kolkata family's lawyer on Monday claimed that the Kolkata Police confiscated the victim's mobile phone after the RG Kar rape-murder case. Later, the CBI took over the investigation and since then, the mobile phone has been in their think the secret of my daughter's death lies in that mobile phone. We suddenly came to know that my daughter's number had exited a WhatsApp group few months after her death. How can a dead person leave a group?" the victim's father said outside the judge has called for the case diary and directed the CBI to submit the next status report on June Rajdeep Haldar, the lawyer of the trainee doctor's family, told India Today TV, "We have submitted our concerns to the court showing the WhatsApp activities that were found even after the victim's death. The court has called for the case diary from the CBI in the next hearing.""The profile of the victim was removed from a group. It happened in December before the delivery of the judgment. We have raised this issue before the court as further investigation is going on," Haldar CBI is yet to respond to the family's claims. However, according to cyber and technology experts, any WhatsApp account can be automatically deleted if it remains inactive for 120 days."A WhatsApp account can be automatically closed if it remains inactive for a long period of time. According to WhatsApp's policy, if an account is inactive for 120 days (around four months), it may be automatically deleted to maintain security, limit data retention, and protect user privacy. Inactivity means the device hasn't connected to WhatsApp servers. If a WhatsApp account is deleted, that account will automatically be removed from WhatsApp groups according to the policy," cyber expert Abhishek Mitra told India Today response to the cyber expert's assertion, Halder, the victim's family lawyer, said, "Let the CBI file its answer in their defence."Must Watch IN THIS STORY#Kolkata
The Print
21-04-2025
- Politics
- The Print
India's rape crisis isn't just legal failure. We raise men who don't know consent, respect
The terror was not only in the act, but in the fact that even sites of international heritage provide no safety to women. In another case, a British woman on a solo trip was raped by a man she had met on Instagram. And in yet another, a Spanish vlogger travelling with her Brazilian husband was gangraped in Jharkhand. The irony is inescapable as the vlogger couple survived through some of the most unstable countries, only to be violated in what is supposed to be the world's largest democracy. Just last month, a group of five people—two women and three men, including an American tourist and two Indians—were subjected to horrific violence while stargazing near Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The two women – an Israeli tourist and an Indian homestay owner – were allegedly gangraped by three men who had approached them for money. The men accompanying the women were assaulted and pushed into the Tungabhadra Canal , causing one of them to drown. India's reputation abroad is sullied by the regularity and brutality of sexual assaults. Big international news platforms keep reporting with outrage as tales of tourists raped, women brutalised, and justice delayed and denied emerge. It's not just foreign tourists who face sexual violence in India; the issue is even more severe when it comes to our own women. Take the infamous RG Kar rape and murder case, where a 31-year-old postgraduate medical intern was raped at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August 2024. The nation was enraged as one. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself mentioned the case during his Independence Day address at the Red Fort, urging 'every government' to treat such cases with the utmost seriousness. Fast-forward to 2025, and the mother of the victim still longs for justice—herself pleading for a meeting with the PM in March. 'Our daughter had dreamt big, and we never thought that she would have to die like this. It's been seven months since she left us, but where is justice?' Culture of silence, impunity The core of the crisis is not just the frequency of the offenses, but the failure of the system to prevent them or mete out justice. The Nirbhaya rape case in 2012 saw millions take to the streets. For the first time, it seemed like the country had woken up. There was outrage, solidarity, and a spark of hope that things would change. But about a decade-and-a-half on, that hope has faded, and things remain as they were. The crimes are as heinous—sometimes even worse. The legislation might have changed, but the attitude, the lack of fear on the part of rapists, and the breakdown of justice still persist. The conviction rate for offenses against women in India, for one, was a pathetic 27-28 per cent from 2018-2022. Where is the fear of the law? When the perpetrators see no consequences, their impunity grows. After the Hampi rape incident, the headlines faded, with barely any follow-up reports. Were the rapists caught, tried, punished? The public has been left in the dark. It shows that justice in India is often a whispered hope rather than a guaranteed right. Also read: Does India have a rape culture? Pick a newspaper, maybe a mirror Statistics hide reality As per statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 31,677 rape cases were registered in 2021—a daily average of 86 cases, that is. But these figures represent only what has been reported. The truth is much darker. Ex-IPS officer SR Darapuri pointed out alarming instances in the Hathras gang rape and killing, where the police did not even take the victim's statement, tampered with official documents, and tried to cremate her body secretly in the dead of night. Marital rape, astonishingly, is still beyond the reach of criminal law in India. Non-marital, non-consensual sex is legally defined as rape, but the same act within a marriage does not have any legal ramifications. If marital rape were to be covered, sexual violence rates would mushroom to astronomical levels even on paper. As of 2018, a staggering 99 per cent of sexual assault cases went unreported in the country – especially where spousal violence was involved. The same assertion was given further credence by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), according to which approximately 30 per cent of Indian women suffered physical and sexual violence at their partners' hands. Also read: When 'good men' are silent on rape, every Indian woman suffers. So we say 'yes all men' The distorted mindset Contrary to popular belief, rapists are not necessarily strangers lurking in dark alleys. They can be a relative, neighbour, or acquaintance too. The overwhelming majority are young men, usually poorly educated, and influenced by a society that dehumanises women. When researchers questioned convicted rapists if they had ever forced someone to do something sexual, many said yes. But when asked if they had ever raped someone, they said no. The psychological warpedness is terrifying. Many rapists never feel bad about their actions, calling the act either the victim's mistake or something that the victim wanted—justifying their actions instead of taking responsibility. Victim-blaming is deeply entrenched, too. 'She shouldn't have gone out at night, or 'She shouldn't have worn such revealing clothes,' they often say. This criminal, distorted way of thinking has unfortunately been normalised. It reveals the truth about our society – where women are seen not as autonomous human beings but as objects to be policed, controlled, or violated. An often-overlooked dimension of rape is that perpetrators employ tactics of power, coercion, and fear to erode the victim's sense of self-worth, rendering them feeling helpless or complicit. The harm inflicted leaves profound emotional scars that endure long after the body has healed. Rape is not merely an act of lust; it is also a tool to assert dominance that is rooted in a toxic culture of entitlement, which in turn seeks to strip individuals of their autonomy. The perpetrator asserts authority over the victim, reinforcing harmful gender dynamics and societal inequalities. Until society addresses the deeply ingrained attitudes of entitlement, control, and victim-blaming, true justice and equality for women will remain out of reach. Also read: I'm an Indian woman, I'm tired of outraging. Jharkhand tourist gangrape won't change a thing What must change India's rape crisis is not merely a failure of law – it is also a failure of society, socialisation, and social conditioning. For far too long, families have raised their sons in a culture of entitlement and not empathy, raising men who have no idea how to respect women, honour consent, or recognise gender equality as essential. This silence at home becomes complicity in society. If young men are not informed that women are their peers—with equal rights, equal agency, and equal dignity—then no law will succeed in stopping the ensuing violence. Laws can be drafted and redrafted, and punishments can be increased—but until the culture of sexual violence, victim-shaming, and covering up for perpetrators persists, justice cannot be attained. The social psyche—firmly rooted in patriarchy, victim-shaming, and the poisonous ideas of honour—makes rape not just a possibility, but an often-nurtured protectorate. The success of every justice system hangs on two points: the rigidity of penalty and the chance of conviction. India has continued to emphasise the former, often announcing stiffer punishments for perpetrators. But this policy has not borne fruit. The truth is brutal yet clear: fear of punishment only works if conviction is probable. In India, it often isn't. Moreover, increasing penalties may ironically deter victims from reporting such incidents—especially if the rapist is a family member or acquaintance. The long-term solution lies not only in tougher laws, but in transforming mindsets. Education, consciousness, and right awareness for respectful coexistence of genders need to become absolute prerequisites. Young women need to learn their rights, too. Schools need to instill gender equality as a lived value rather than a theoretical one. As a nation, we need to address this epidemic not only in courts but in classrooms, in homes, in the media, and on the streets. Because until we do, no woman in India will ever be safe. A nation cannot rise while half its soul is shackled in fear. Until India learns to protect and not police its women, it will never truly be free. Karti P Chidambaram is a Member of Parliament for Sivaganga, and a Member of the All India Congress Committee. His X handle is @KartiPC. Views are personal. (Edited by Zoya Bhatti)
