RG Kar doctor, who was on duty on Aug 9, questions delay in declaring victim dead

The doctor also said that what surprised some of the doctors, who were on duty that night, was that no one had any inkling till 9.30am about the crime.

A doctor, who was on duty in the emergency department of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on the intervening night of August 8 and 9 when a trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered, has raised questions over the three-hour delay in declaring the victim dead after her body was spotted lying in a half-naked condition in a seminar room.

RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata (File Photo)

HT had earlier reported that according to the document submitted by the Kolkata Police in the Supreme Court, the victim’s body was first spotted at 9.30am on August 9 by a first-year trainee doctor. At 10.10am, the Tala police station was alerted by the police outpost in the hospital. While the local police reached the spot at 10.30am, sleuths of the homicide squad arrived at 11am.

It was only at 12.44pm that the on-duty emergency medical officer (EMO) of the hospital declared the victim dead.

Dr Tapas Pramanik was on duty in the general emergency department on the ground floor of the building. He was on duty from 8pm on August 8 and left the hospital by 9am on August 9. At around 11.45am he came to know about the incident from a message on a social media group.

“The body was found at 9.30am and the police were informed at 10.10am. The victim was, however, declared dead at 12.44pm by the hospital. Questions may arise over this almost three-hour delay. All these while she was lying there. The parents may raise questions what if the victim was alive for some time during that period?” Dr Pramanik told a media outlet.

Last week three audio clips had gone viral, in which hospital authorities could be purportedly heard telling the victim’s parents over phone, to come to the hospital. While in one audio the parents were told that their daughter was ill, in a second audio they were told that the victim may have died by suicide.

“As I was on duty that night and had just returned home, I immediately called the EMO who was on duty when the body was discovered. She confirmed that such an incident had happened. We are used to seeing accident victims and dead bodies. But the sight of a co-worker, who was also on duty the previous night, being found in that condition was shocking. Both of us were surprised as to why the parents were told that it may have been a suicide case. From no angle it looked like a suicide case,” he said while speaking to reporters.

The post-mortem report of the victim revealed that she was strangulated and smothered to death. Multiple injuries were found on her body. The autopsy report also revealed some forceful penetration or insertion in her genitalia which suggest that the victim was sexually assaulted.

He also said that what surprised some of the doctors, who were on duty that night, was that no one had any inkling till 9.30am on August 9 about the crime.

“That is the most surprising part. RG Kar caters to a heavy rush of patients every night and doctors and nurses are always on the move. It is always dynamic. But such a heinous crime took place on the third floor, and no one had any inkling!” he said.

Earlier the Supreme Court had pulled up the hospital authorities and Kolkata Police over the 14-hour delay in lodging the FIR. The FIR was registered on the basis of the victim’s father’s complaint at 11.45pm that night.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, however, had told the apex court that the police had started a case of unnatural death promptly and were waiting for the victim’s father to lodge a formal complaint to register the FIR.