The rape-murder case of the doctor from Kolkata, which stunned the nation and rocked the medical community, has been taken up by the Supreme Court on its own. On Tuesday, the case will be heard by a three-judge bench chaired by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
The Calcutta High Court, which is currently considering the issue, overruled Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Sunday deadline to the state police and directed that the investigation be moved to the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, during a hearing last week.
Since the outset, there have been concerns expressed about the police’s handling of the case, including the postmortem report, the quick arrest of a volunteer, and the delay in granting the woman’s parents access to the body.
Doctors have stated both publicly and privately that the severity of the woman’s wounds suggests multiple attackers were involved. The Kolkata Police have refuted allegations claiming that the body was quickly burnt by the police.
The BJP, the state’s opposition party, has been claiming that there has been a widespread police cover-up to shield the guilty. A nighttime attack on the hospital on August 15, during the statewide women’s “Reclaim the Night” march, gave credence to their claims. The BJP said that since the terrorists destroyed the emergency department, it was just another attempt to destroy evidence.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari asserted today on social media that the doctor’s viscera had been “changed” by the Kolkata Police. Further evidence tampering was also alleged by him.
The second-year postgrad had gone to an empty seminar room by himself on Thursday night to catch up on sleep after working a 36-hour shift. There is no on-call room at the hospital. It seemed like she had fallen asleep in that spot.
The following morning, her partially clothed body was discovered there with several injuries.
The primary suspect is Sanjoy Roy, a Kolkata Police volunteer who served as a civil servant and was given access to every department while he was stationed at the police outpost at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
CCTV footage showing him entering the building where the doctor’s body was discovered murdered served as the foundation for his arrest. The CCTV footage showed a Bluetooth headset on his neck, which was discovered next to the woman’s corpse. It was discovered that his phone was also associated with it.
