Latest news with #RGKarMedicalCollegeandHospital
NDTV
4 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
RG Kar Victim's Father Calls Aparajita Bill 'Deceptive,' Accuses Police Of Evidence Tampering
The father of the RG Kar rape and murder victim accused Kolkata Police of tampering with evidence and failing to act in his daughter's case, while reacting to the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill. Speaking to ANI, he said, "... Kolkata Police did nothing in my daughter's case except for evidence tampering... There was no provision for evidence tampering in this bill. It will not matter to us whether the bill is passed or not..." He also criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging that the bill was introduced in the Assembly to "deceive the people" of the state. "...The Chief Minister introduced this bill in the Assembly to deceive the people of West Bengal. She also sent it to the Governor and the President. But they rejected the bill, which is a good thing," he said. On Thursday, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose sent back the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, to the state government. The bill proposes the death penalty or life imprisonment for those convicted of rape and seeks to amend sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the new criminal code. The West Bengal Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed the Aparajita Bill on September 3, 2024. The Bill was sent to President Droupadi Murmu by the Governor on September 6, 2024. The legislation was passed following the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, which provides for the death penalty in five categories of offences -- rape, rape by a police officer or public servant, rape causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state, gang rape, and repeat offenders. According to Raj Bhawan officials, the bill proposes making the death penalty mandatory in cases where the victim dies or is left in a vegetative state under Section 66 of the BNS. The Bill also proposes to delete Section 65 of the BNS, 2023, thereby eliminating the distinction in punishment for the rape of women under 16 and under 12 years of age, according to Raj Bhawan. The development comes amid repeated appeals by the Trinamool Congress government urging the Union government to grant assent to the Bill. A delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs met President Droupadi Murmu on February 13 to press for early approval of the legislation. Certain legal experts had described the Aparajita Bill as a knee-jerk response by the West Bengal government. Earlier, the father of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder victim spoke out against the alleged gangrape case in Kolkata's law college, expressing his frustration and disappointment with the recurring incidents of violence. He accused the government of having a significant role to play in preventing such incidents and that the accused should be severely punished. He said, "Such incidents are happening again and again. After what happened with my daughter, many people came out on the streets in protest. Even after that, such incidents continue to occur. People inside the college are committing such incidents. The government has a significant role in this, which is why all these incidents are happening. All three people arrested are from the TMC, so this political party should ensure that such incidents do not happen again. The accused should be severely punished."
New Indian Express
14-07-2025
- New Indian Express
Kolkata: Charges framed against five accused in RG Kar corruption case
KOLKATA: Charges have been framed against five accused including Sandeep Ghosh in the corruption case at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Alipore CBI Court in Kolkata. A case has been registered under sections 420, 409, 467, 468 and 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The trial will begin from July 22. The CBI is investigating the corruption case at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on the orders of the Calcutta High Court. Apart from Ghosh, former principal of the medical college, Afsar Ali, Biplab Sinha, Suman Hazra and Ashish Pandey have been named in the CBI chargesheet. All of them are now in jail. There are allegations that financial corruption has been going on at RG Kar Hospital for more than three years. A former deputy superintendent of the hospital alleged that at various times massive corruption took place in the tendering process of purchasing medical equipment at RG Kar. It is also alleged that Ghosh had played an instrumental role to ensure awarding the tenders to his 'close friends'.
The Hindu
07-07-2025
- The Hindu
Parents of RG Kar victim seek permission from city court for access to crime scene
Parents of the doctor who was raped and killed at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last year, made a prayer to a city court on Monday (July 7, 2025), requesting to revisit the crime scene. The matter is likely to be heard by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of the Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court tomorrow. On August 9, 2024, a post-graduate trainee doctor was found dead in a seminar hall of the chest medicine department on the fourth floor of the emergency building of the State-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. 'We do not think that the Central Bureau of Investigation is carrying out a proper investigation to nab all culprits. So it is essential that we, with our legal counsel, can access the seminar hall where it all unfolded. A revisit will help our lawyers answer questions during future court proceedings. Many questions are asked about the crime scene, which our current lawyer has not seen,' the victim's father told The Hindu on Monday (July 7, 2025). He added that Justice Tirthankar Ghosh of the Calcutta High Court had directed them to approach the Sealdah court to seek permission for revisiting the place of occurrence. Notably, last year, former principal of the medical college, Sandip Ghosh, was accused of tampering with the crime scene after an official letter signed by him and dated August 10 had surfaced online, directing 'urgent' renovations in every department of the hospital. Concerns were also raised around the police probe when a video had surfaced online capturing a crowd at the crime scene after the body was found. The police had later clarified that 'a 40-foot area' around the victim's body had been cordoned off, but the victim's parents had contested their claims. While civic volunteer Sanjay Roy was pronounced guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for the doctor's rape and murder in January this year, the parents had petitioned the Calcutta High Court for further investigation into the case. In an earlier conversation with The Hindu, the family had expressed their dissatisfaction with the CBI's ongoing probe into the case. Renewed protest march on one-year mark The victim's parents also said on Monday (July 7, 2025) that they would 'definitely be present' at the 'Nabanna Abhiyan' (march to State Secretariat) rally against the State government on August 9, 2025. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, after meeting them last week, said he would 'participate in the protest without flags' and 'make all efforts to make the movement successful'. August 9 would mark one year since the unfortunate incident. Additionally, activists have given a call to re-initiate 'Reclaim The Night' protests on August 14, one year since its inception on the same day last year. 'We will also attend the Reclaim The Night protest that is being organised on August 14, like last year. We will try to cover as many locations as possible,' the bereaved father said. Last year, on August 14 and subsequently on other nights, women's rights organisations had organised massive 'Reclaim The Night' protests late at night across the State, urging people, especially women, to leave their homes and march for the right to navigate public spaces safely after dark.
India Today
03-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
The Bengal I took pride in has let me down...
'Ye sab sirf Delhi, Haryana mein hota hai. Bengal is different.'That line, half in pride, half in self-consolation, used to be my shield against numerous taunts about West Bengal. But not anymore.I wore my Bengali identity like armour. Born and raised in the lush, green expanse of North Bengal. I grew up believing my state was progressive, culturally rich, and most importantly, Maybe that's why, when I moved to Delhi nearly a decade ago, first for my master's, then a job, my parents let me go with great hesitation. "The money might be less here," they said, "but Bengal is safe."Even after I left, I clung to that belief. Whenever Bengal was criticised, for its lack of jobs, crumbling infrastructure, failing healthcare, or being unfriendly to businesses, I always had a ready retort:"At least we're not the 'rape capital' of India."I never missed a chance to defend my state. Yes, our GDP was slipping. Yes, we were lagging behind Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Yes, our youth were migrating for deep down, I held on to one thing: West Bengal is not started with a case that still sends shivers down my spine.A young postgraduate medical student, just 31, raped and murdered inside a seminar room at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, one of Kolkata's most respected institutions. Her body was found behind a makeshift curtain, covered with a hospital bedsheet. Her dignity, violated in a space meant for learning and crime itself was horrific. But the aftermath? Even were allegations of the crime scene being tampered with. The parents were deceived, kept in the dark about crucial details of their daughter's death. The former principal, hospital staff, and even civic volunteers were accused of botching, or worse, covering up evidence. The hospital, instead of demanding justice, appeared more concerned with damage followed were protests. An outcry for justice. A demand that such a nightmare should never be allowed to took 42 days of strikes by doctors, multiple FIRs, and the Supreme Court's intervention for a CBI investigation to finally be launched. The verdict? The prime accused, Sanjay Roy, was convicted for the rape and murder of the junior whether her parents and well-wishers feel any closure is another question just as people were trying to go back to their lives, Bengal was jolted June 25, another case, another young woman.A 24-year-old law student, gang-raped by three men inside a college campus, in a security guard's of the accused, Monojit Mishra, had reportedly stalked her from her first day at college. A former member of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad and a college staffer, someone with influence, with reach, and clearly, with no fear of to the investigation, the assault was premeditated. It was filmed, allegedly to be used for both these cases, the location of the crime was not a bar, not a club, not a park, hotel, or dimly lit alley, lest anyone be tempted to dismiss them as sajano ghotona (fabricated cases).No. These assaults happened inside a medical college. A law pause on that: a law college, where justice is supposed to be studied, debated, to say your daughter or sister won't be applying there next year?So I ask: Where is the safety?How did our hospitals and colleges become breeding grounds for rapists?How did a state that prided itself on progressive ideals, intellectualism, and the legacy of revolution become so numb?advertisementHave we stopped even pretending to care?What makes this even more unbearable is the ruling party connection in both prime accused in the law college rape case had at least five criminal cases pending against him, including sexual assault and attempted isn't just political opportunism when the Opposition raises questions. It's basic human decency. Why was no action taken?In a 2024 report, The Wire revealed that between August and November 2023 alone, Bengal reported 42 cases of molestation, rape, and gang rape. The details range from rape and murder to dismemberment and the dumping of bodies in that sink in: This isn't data from a decade. It's from three here's the most disturbing part: the numbers we know may only be the tip of the iceberg.A study published in Hindustan Times by economists Maitreesh Ghatak and Tanika Chakraborty tears apart the myth of Bengal's 'safety' based on NCRB data.'While it is difficult to pinpoint the extent of reporting bias,' Chakraborty writes, 'when we compare NFHS and NCRB data, it suggests a reporting bias in NCRB's crime against women statistics in West Bengal in the last decade.'For the uninitiated, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout not only are the crimes rising, we may not even be counting them are not aberrations. They are scream that something is fundamentally broken in just our need accountability, yes. But more urgently, we need Bengal I loved, the land of Mahasweta Devi, Matangini Hazra, Bina Das, Suhasini Ganguly, of women who stood up, fought back, and led revolutions, is being buried under silence and we're letting it happen.- EndsMust Watch
NDTV
28-06-2025
- NDTV
Padma Awardee Monk Accused Of Rape, Abortion, Threats By Bengal Woman
Kolkata: A woman in West Bengal has accused Padma Shri awardee monk Swami Pradiptananda, popularly known as Kartik Maharaj, of raping her on multiple occasions since 2013 on the pretext of offering her a job at a school. The monk, who is associated with Bharat Sevashram Sangha's Beldanga unit in the state's Murshidabad district, however, alleged a conspiracy to "malign his name and fame". Maharaj was among this year's recipients of the Padma Shri award - the fourth highest civilian award - that is given for distinguished service. The case against him comes against the backdrop of a political showdown in the state over another rape case involving a law student, by students and a staff member at her college in Kolkata. These incidents also follow last year's rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital that had triggered nationwide protests. In her complaint with Nabagram police earlier this week, the woman alleged Maharaj had promised her a job at Chanak Adivasi Abasik Balika Vidyalaya - one of the ashram's schools - when the duo met in December 2012. The survivor said she was also accommodated at the school hostel in January 2013, with an assurance that she would soon be hired. "However, he would almost everyday take me to a room on the fifth floor of the premises and rape me," she said in her complaint written in Bengali. "On one occasion, Maharaj summoned me and asked me to stay at his ashram for five days. He raped me here as well multiple times. He then asked me to return home and promised to send me money every month," she added. The survivor said that after she got pregnant in 2013, the accused, along with some school staff, took her to a private nursing facility in Berhampore for an abortion. "He threatened me when I opposed the idea. In the presence of two (school) staff members, he spoke to a doctor at the nursing home and forced me to undergo an abortion," she alleged. The complainant said she hoped and waited to get hired but continued to be sexually assaulted by the accused. "He raped me across several branches of the ashram in Murshidabad. He kept promising me a job and I kept waiting. Eventually, I broke down mentally," she said. The woman said she reached out to the monk on June 12. "I called him and he asked me to wait at a particular spot in Berhampore at 7pm on June 13. He said two people would come to pick me up. When the two men arrived and I boarded their vehicle, they threatened me and asked me not to contact Maharaj again. They also abused me and pushed me from the vehicle," she alleged. The woman sought stringent action against the accused. Maharaj dismissed the woman's allegations against him. "Time will reveal everything. This is a conspiracy against me to malign my name and fame. There are so many women employed in our ashram and many female disciples. Ask them. Everyone will say we respect women like our mothers," he was quoted as saying by The Times Of India. On Friday, the alleged rape of a student by two other students and the staff member of South Calcutta Law College inside the institute sparked a massive political row between the ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the assembly elections next year. Four people, including the college security guard, have been arrested so far. A photograph of the prime accused - Manojit Mishra, a practicing lawyer - with TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee gave the BJP fresh ammunition to target the ruling party. The TMC, though, denied having any connection with the accused now and sought "severe punishment" if he is found guilty. The incident at the law college brought back the horrific memories of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor inside RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in north Kolkata in August last year.
