Earlier, the Kolkata Police had shared images of several individuals linked to the rape case at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and requested public assistance in identifying them.
In the early hours of Thursday, a mob unleashed chaos at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, leading to the arrest of nine individuals. The rampage occurred during a protest sparked by the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the institution the previous week.
On Wednesday night, women in Kolkata and across the country held a vigil titled ‘Women, Reclaim the Night,’ starting around 11 pm. During the vigil, some individuals stormed the hospital premises, causing extensive damage. Vehicles were attacked, public property was destroyed, and the police had to use batons and teargas to control the situation. According to the Kolkata Police, 15 officers were injured in the unrest.
By Thursday morning, police released images of people believed to be involved in the vandalism and asked the public for help identifying them. The photos, shared on social media, highlighted the faces of the suspected rioters. The arrests followed shortly after the release of these images.
However, Kolkata Police confirmed that the crime scene where the 31-year-old doctor was brutally raped and murdered remained undisturbed, and nine individuals were arrested in connection with the violence.
Police reported that a group of around 40 to 50 people, posing as protestors, stormed the hospital grounds late Wednesday night, causing significant property damage. Caught off guard, the police responded by using tear gas and baton charges to break up the mob.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, facing criticism from opposition parties, accused the BJP and CPI(M) of working together in a “coordinated” effort to politicize the rape and murder of the junior doctor. Banerjee likened the situation in Kolkata to the student protests in Dhaka, claiming there were attempts to “create a Bangladesh here.” She also stated that she had “no desire to cling to power.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who leads a dominant political force in the state, warned her police force that she might hand over the high-profile case of a doctor’s rape and murder, which has shocked the nation, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
This suggests that she believes the Kolkata Police may not be up to the task. Her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, who is seen as her successor, used harsh language, calling for the guilty to be “encountered” and “hanged.” The Calcutta High Court, pointing out numerous failures by the police and administration, eventually did hand the case over to the CBI.
In West Bengal, the state has deeply failed the 31-year-old doctor who was brutally attacked at Kolkata’s R G Kar Hospital. The case was initially handled poorly, with questionable decisions like appointing the hospital’s former principal, Sandip Ghosh, to a favorable position at another Kolkata hospital right after he resigned.
These issues are part of a larger problem. While Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress have enjoyed electoral and political success, and the TMC government has been praised for its women-centric schemes and the high number of women candidates it has fielded, many of whom are now MPs, the handling of this case reveals significant shortcomings.
“Why is the police quiet?” Doctors restart their strike following a mob attack on a Kolkata hospital, while the BJP calls for a protest.
State BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar criticized the Kolkata Police after a mob stormed RG Kar Medical College and “assaulted doctors.”
Union Minister and West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar strongly criticized the state police and the Trinamool Congress government following the midnight mob attack and vandalism at RG Kar Medical College on August 14. Majumdar claimed that the mob assaulted doctors inside the hospital while the police did nothing to intervene.
Majumdar said a mob of around 2000-2500 people entered the premises and assaulted doctors. Meanwhile, nurses from the RG Kar Medical College alleged that the mob attempted to destroy evidence from the seminar hall of the college, where a junior doctor was raped and killed on August 9, a charge denied by the police