Kolkata Rape-Murder Case Updates: Chief Justice-Led Bench To Hear Matter On Tuesday; CBI Grills Ex-Principal

The students and junior doctors have decided to continue their protest at the RG Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata over the murder and rape of a female trainee doctor on August 9.

Joining the doctors in Kolkata, resident doctors from across the country have declared a strike and demanded for better safety of healthcare officials.

The investigating officers of the CBI are looking into the call details and chats of former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, in connection with their probe into the rape and murder of a woman doctor.

Ghosh, who appeared before the CBI officers on the third consecutive day on Sunday, was asked to furnish details of the phone calls he made before, and after the incident at the hospital

"We have a list of questions for him," the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer told PTI.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray has been served a notice by the Kolkata Police for tweeting "wrong information" about the probe in connection with the RG Kar hospital rape and murder case.

Days after the gruesome rape and murder of a female doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Hospital, the concerns for the safety of healthcare workers continue to rise.

In the latest incident, a female doctor at a Mumbai hospital was physically assaulted by a group of drunk men on Sunday morning. As per eyewitness reports, the on-duty doctor was assaulted by the drunk patient and a group of five-six men, who were all under the influence of alcohol.

Kolkata police have issued summons to former BJP MP Locket Chatterjee and two renowned doctors for allegedly spreading rumours and disclosing the identity of the woman doctor who was raped and murdered at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Former cricketer and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh has written to West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, urging them to "act swiftly and decisively" in the rape-murder case of a Kolkata doctor.

"With deep anguish over delay in justice to the Kolkata rape and murder victim, the incident which had shaken the conscience of all of us, I have penned a heartfelt plea to the Hon'ble Chief Minister of West Bengal , Ms. @MamataOfficial Ji and Hon'ble @BengalGovernor urging them to act swiftly and decisively," Singh said in a post on X.

"Only then can we begin to restore faith in our system and ensure that such a tragedy never occurs again and we create a society where every woman feels safe and protected. We must ask ourselves '?if not now, when? I feel, the time for action is now," he added further.

"I demand justice for the victim. I demand a safer society. I demand positive change. And I stand with the doctors in their fight for justice," the former cricketer stated in his letter to the Governor.

Amid the outrage over the Kolkata doctor's murder and rape, Union Minister Giriraj Singh has called for West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to resign.

"It is very weird and I am surprised. The CM (Mamata Banerjee) is the health minister, law and order is in her hands, and she is in power. If she cannot handle it she should resign...If they are not removed from power, Bengal will become second Bangladesh..."

The Kolkata Police today summoned Trinamool Congress MP  Sukhendu Shekhar Ray for allegedly spreading misinformation. Ray had claimed that a dog squad was sent to the crime scene three days after the body of the victim was found on August 9. 

"The information that the sniffer dog was sent after three days is completely wrong. A sniffer dog was sent twice on August 9 and then on 12. A notice has been sent to Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Roy," the Kolkata Police said in a statement. 

The Kolkata Police issued summonses to former BJP MP Locket Chatterjee and two renowned doctors for allegedly spreading rumours and revealing the identity of the woman doctor who was raped and murdered at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital , news agency PTI quoted an official as saying. The police also issued summonses to 57 others for spreading wrong information about the incident, the official said.

The Supreme Court on Sunday took suo motu cognisance of the rape and murder of a woman junior doctor at R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata, West Bengal.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chadrachud will hear the case on Tuesday. This comes a day after the Indian Medical Association held a 24-hour nationwide strike in protest against the incident.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has questioned the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, for the third consecutive day in connection with the rape and murder of a woman doctor.

CBI Questions To Sandip Ghosh:

- Furnish details of phone calls made before and after the incident at the hospital.

- Specify your role after getting the news of the doctor's death.

- Who did you contact after learning of the doctor's death and why?

- Why did you make the parents wait for nearly three hours?

- Who did you ask to inform the family about the incident?

- Who contacted the police?

- What is the weekly roster of the chest medicine department where the doctor was often put on 36-48 hours duty?

- Who ordered the renovation of the rooms near the seminar hall at the emergency building of the hospital after the incident?

ongress MP Shashi Tharoor said: "I have sympathy and solidarity with the doctors. For a couple of years at least, I have been speaking in parliament about the issue of violence against doctors. I got into a bit of a debate with the then Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.'

"I had argued that the government should bring in a bill to specifically protect medical professionals in the course of their duties. The government gave me a very odd reply that if they start doing it for one profession, they'd have to do it for others. It is a ridiculous argument...I am shocked and saddened that despite all these efforts to raise public consciousness and the government's consciousness about this, one more doctor has had to lose her life..."

Expressing anguish over the Kolkata rape-murder incident, over 70 Padma awardee doctors have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding quick enactment of a special law to deal with violence against healthcare personnel and implementation of improved safety protocols in medical facilities.

They suggested that the Centre bring an ordinance immediately to ensure the "harshest possible punishment" to those who indulge in violence against healthcare workers, whether verbal or physical.

There have been widespread protests by healthcare personnel and others following the alleged rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital and claims of a botched-up investigation and cover-up. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) and other doctors' bodies are pressing for a central law to ensure the safety of medics.

Among those who have written the letter are former Director General of ICMR Dr Balram Bhargav, former AIIMS Delhi Director Dr Randeep Guleria and Dr S K Sarin, Director of Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.

- PTI

Bengal's actors, directors, and technicians staged a rally in the city on Sunday to protest the rape-murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar hospital here.

Directors Kaushik Ganguly, Shibo Prasad Mukhopadhyay, and Arjun Datta, along with actors Paoli Dam and Ankush Hazra, joined around 200 members of the Bengali film and TV industry in a one-kilometre march, chanting "Tollygunge industry r ektai swar, justice for R G Kar" (The Bengali film industry has one voice, we want justice for the victim").

The procession started from the Technicians' Studio in Tollygunge, traveled by bus to Khanna crossing in north Kolkata, and then continued on foot to Shyambazar Metro Station.