The Kolkata doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College Hospital “knew too much and was silenced”, West Bengal Doctors' Forum advisor Dr Koushik Lahiri said on Sunday.
In an exclusive conversation with HT's Kumkum Chadha, Lahiri said,"She always tried to share what she was facing. She was not the only one. Many young and senior doctors are exposed to the same kind of offences. Most of them are silenced. The silence is also violence. This girl tried to break her silence."
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Dr. Lahiri said it is “painful and shameful” to discuss what happened on August 9, the morning the body of the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was found in the hospital's seminar hall.
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“A 31-year-old postgraduate student at department of chest and pulmonology at RG Kar was found in a horrific condition, obviously raped and murdered, on August 9. After this, what happened is baffling and absolutely unbelievable. At 10:10 am, the Tala Police Station was informed that someone was found unconscious at RG Kar Hospital. This is a question mark on ‘unconscious’. Who is reporting this,” Lahiri said.
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“At 10:50, someone introduced self as deputy super called the father of the deceased to inform him that his daughter had committed suicide. By the time, they already knew that it was not a case of suicide. This is absolutely unthinkable. At 11:30, one general diary was filed and again this is on confusion. The Chief Justice of India asked whether it was an unnatural death (UD) case,” he added.
“UD case pertains to unnatural death which is actually an unclaimed body. Suppose there is a train or road accident, there is a body which is unclaimed or nobody knows the identity of the deceased. In such situation, the police files a UD case. Mr Sibal is saying that UD case was filed at 1:47 pm. It is more suspicious that why at 1:47 this case was filed," the doctor added.
Dr Lahiri further alleged that the doctor's parents were informed and made to sit for three hours at the hospital for no reason. “Everyone was allowed to look at the body except for the parents. Between 6:10 and 7:10, the postmortem was carried out. Autopsy is rarely done after sunset after 2023. It is in the rule, and you can do that in a government setup. But if you ask any senior doctors or lawyer, this is not the norm,” he added.
Dr Lahiri further claimed that at 8:30 pm, the body was cremated. “Very recently, we learned that all the signatures were done by some political leader of the locality and not by the parent. Even more dangerous and unbelievable is the fact that the FIR was lodged after the postmortem at 11:45. This is recorded in the apex court,” he claimed.
Dr Lahiri came down heavily on Dr Sandip Ghosh, the ex-principal of the college, who resigned days after the incident.
“The principal resigned from his post and service verbally. He said on camera that “I am leaving my government service”. We don't know whether it is a Freudian slip or not that “I have tried to save her but this was inevitable. Why is the principal, the father figure of the RG Kar Medical College, told this?” he added.
Alleging a conspiracy, the top doctor said,"Suppose there is a theft or crime in any area of any civilised world, what the administration should do? They should nab the culprit and hand it over to the police. Here what exactly happened, they are shielding the culprit. If there are more than one perpetrator, they are trying to hide the identity."
“A 31-year-old postgraduate student at department of chest and pulmonology at RG Kar was found in a horrific condition, obviously raped and murdered, on August 9. After this, what happened is baffling and absolutely unbelievable. At 10:10 am, the Tala Police Station was informed that someone was found unconscious at RG Kar Hospital. This is a question mark on ‘unconscious’. Who is reporting this,” Lahiri said.
ALSO READ: Kolkata rape-murder: Was Dr Sandip Ghosh informed 30 minutes late?
“At 10:50, someone introduced self as deputy super called the father of the deceased to inform him that his daughter had committed suicide. By the time, they already knew that it was not a case of suicide. This is absolutely unthinkable. At 11:30, one general diary was filed and again this is on confusion. The Chief Justice of India asked whether it was an unnatural death (UD) case,” he added.
“UD case pertains to unnatural death which is actually an unclaimed body. Suppose there is a train or road accident, there is a body which is unclaimed or nobody knows the identity of the deceased. In such situation, the police files a UD case. Mr Sibal is saying that UD case was filed at 1:47 pm. It is more suspicious that why at 1:47 this case was filed," the doctor added.
Dr Lahiri further alleged that the doctor's parents were informed and made to sit for three hours at the hospital for no reason. “Everyone was allowed to look at the body except for the parents. Between 6:10 and 7:10, the postmortem was carried out. Autopsy is rarely done after sunset after 2023. It is in the rule, and you can do that in a government setup. But if you ask any senior doctors or lawyer, this is not the norm,” he added.
Dr Lahiri further claimed that at 8:30 pm, the body was cremated. “Very recently, we learned that all the signatures were done by some political leader of the locality and not by the parent. Even more dangerous and unbelievable is the fact that the FIR was lodged after the postmortem at 11:45. This is recorded in the apex court,” he claimed.
Dr Lahiri came down heavily on Dr Sandip Ghosh, the ex-principal of the college, who resigned days after the incident.
“The principal resigned from his post and service verbally. He said on camera that “I am leaving my government service”. We don't know whether it is a Freudian slip or not that “I have tried to save her but this was inevitable. Why is the principal, the father figure of the RG Kar Medical College, told this?” he added.
Alleging a conspiracy, the top doctor said,"Suppose there is a theft or crime in any area of any civilised world, what the administration should do? They should nab the culprit and hand it over to the police. Here what exactly happened, they are shielding the culprit. If there are more than one perpetrator, they are trying to hide the identity."