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Kolkata doctor rape-murder case gets murkier as BJP posts fresh video of victim's parents
Kolkata doctor rape-murder: Victim's family, speaking to a Bengali news channel, claimed that the video was shot forcibly by the police days after the incident.
Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: The RG Kar Medical College and Hospital doctor's rape-murder case in Kolkata is becoming increasingly complicated. While only one accused – Sanjay Roy – has been arrested so far in the case, videos of the victim's parents contradicting claims against the Kolkata Police are making the death of the trainee doctor even more perplexing.
The family members of the deceased medic, who joined the protesting doctors at RG Kar hospital on Wednesday night, accused the Kolkata Police of attempting to suppress the case by hastily cremating the body.
“We wanted to keep the body of our daughter but extraordinary pressure was mounted on us and the body was cremated,” the woman's father said as he joined doctors protesting at the college.
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He also alleged that a senior police officer had taken him aside and offered him money when his daughter's body was brought home after an autopsy and before cremation.
Also Read | Kolkata doctor's rape case: Trinamool counters bribery charge with parents' video
"I gave him a piece of my mind and refused to take any money," he said, without specifying why the money was offered.
West Bengal women and child development minister Shashi Panja, at a press conference on Thursday, said that the government would not conduct a "postmortem" of the parents' comments.
"We respect what the family is saying, they have lost their daughter," she said at a media briefing where she also urged the federal police, who took over the probe last month, to conclude the investigation quickly and "reveal the truth".
TMC refutes accusations of police cover-up
The TMC refuted accusations of a police cover-up by the parents of the woman doctor, insisting that a newly surfaced video contradicts their claims by showing the family previously satisfied with the investigation.
Family reacts
But the family was quick to respond, claiming that the video was forcibly recorded by the police just after the cremation.
In response to the allegations, senior TMC leader and minister Shashi Panja stated that a new video of the parents claimed that such allegations were false.
“A video went viral yesterday where it is claimed that a police official offered money to the parents in the aftermath of the incident. Another video has appeared in the public domain, where the parents clearly stated that such claims are lies and they only want justice for their daughter,” she said.
The video, the authenticity of which could not be independently verified by HT, was played during a press conference at the TMC office, where the parents were heard saying that they were never offered money.
“We cannot imagine the pain of the grieving parents. The incident is extremely unfortunate and saddening, and we have all been demanding justice for the victim. But, there shouldn't be politics here. We want to humbly appeal that there should be no political pressure on the parents to do anything,” Panja said.
However, within an hour, the family, speaking to a Bengali news channel claimed that the video was shot forcibly by the police days after the incident.
“The video was shot by the police just days after the incident took place and we were forced to participate. The truth is that the police tried to hush up the case and attempted to protect (former) RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh," a family member told the news channel.
Panja accused the BJP of not seeking justice, but rather using the tragedy for political gains.
Panja also condemned the proliferation of such “fake” videos on social media, and alleged that those were being spread by the BJP's IT cell.
Amit Malviya posts parents' video
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya also posted the video clip of the victim's parents who spoke the news channel.
“TMC hacks are circulating a video of the deceased RG Kar doctor’s family and claiming that WB Police didn’t offer any money to them. Now listen to the parent’s version. They claim that Mamata Banerjee’s police threatened to derail the investigation, if they didn’t come on camera and deny the allegations of being offered money, to withdraw the case. Distraught parents complied,” Amit Malviya wrote on X.
“Later, when the parents realised that the Kolkata Police was doing everything to cover up the crime and were conducting a sham investigation, they decided to speak the truth. The parents, who had just lost a 31 year old daughter, were being hounded by Vineet Goyal and his team of officers on the instructions of Mamata Banerjee,” he added.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the claim.
The death of the doctor on August 9 has triggered nationwide protests and led to junior doctors in West Bengal going on cease work.
Panja supported the doctors' agitation, describing it as justified, but expressed hope that they would resume work once the situation is addressed.
"The agitation by the doctors is justified and should be treated with empathy. Surely, they will get back to work when they feel that the time has come for them," Panja added.
The West Bengal BJP shot back, saying the family has “exposed” the state government's plan to hushup the case.
"The TMC government has done everything to coverup this. The family's statement has exposed the TMC and the police," BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya claimed.
