Today, the biggest issue that has been hitting headlines in the country is the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case. A 31-year-old trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of the college with severe injury marks on the body. Though one arrest has been made in the case, questions have been raised on the pace and intention of the investigation. In this Blog, I will try to put up as many facts as we have on the matter and will further discuss the ‘rape’ problem in India and what are the root causes and remedies of it.

Case Details

The victim girl’s body was found inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a government-run institution in Kolkata on August 9. The deceased girl was a second-year student of the chest medicine department.

The irritating and unfortunate fact is the CCTV was available in the outside corridors but not inside the seminar hall, which has further caused many theories to be floated in the case. The episode has also raised concerns about doctor’s safety, especially during night shifts, calling for better infrastructure and facilities.

According to witness testimonies, the trainee doctor, who was on night duty on August 8 had dinner at around 2 am with four of her colleagues. Incidentally, this was the same night when India’s Neeraj Chopra was competing at the Paris Olympics, so everyone was eagerly watching the game. Following the match (Neeraj won silver), everyone left for their respective rooms, but the victim who was on a 36-hour shift (a normal thing for doctors) decided to rest in the seminar hall only as there were no rest rooms.

The famous or infamous RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata (Photo: Shiksha)

At around 3am, the victim reportedly met an intern student in the seminar hall and saw his report. She slept after that. This was the last recorded encounter of the victim.

In the morning, the victim’s body was found in semi-nude condition, and the details are enough to send shivers down your spine but are important to be told. In addition to the bleeding from private parts, the victim was bleeding from her face, hands, legs, ring finger and both eyes (as the assaulter(s) crushed her glasses, shards of which were found in her eyes). Her neck bone was also found broken suggesting that, she was first strangulated and then smothered to death. Another shocking detail is that both the legs of the deceased were at complete 90 degrees, which shows the extent of brutality inflicted on her.

Now, what raised eyebrows regarding the role of the college in the case was that the victim’s family received the first call from the institution at around 11 am where they were told that their “daughter is very sick”. But, in the next call around 15-20 minutes later, they were told that their “daughter had committed suicide.” The family also alleged that they had to wait for 3 hours to see their daughter and the Kolkata Police, in its first report, instead of naming rape or murder, only mentioned death due to “unnatural causes.”

Visuals from the protest site in Kolkata (Photo: MoneyControl)

Arrest and Controversy

So far, Sanjoy Roy is the only arrest that has been made in the case. The 33-year-old civic volunteer was an outsider, who claims to have a free run to visit different hospital departments. The CCTV footage showed him entering the seminar hall on the night of the incident, and his presence on the premises was also confirmed by other footage. According to the police, Sanjoy was arrested after they recovered a part of a Bluetooth earphone, that belonged to him, from the crime scene.

Sanjoy had worked as a civic volunteer with Kolkata Police in the past, but used to present himself as a ‘police officer’. It is pertinent to note that multiple cases were registered against him in the past as well for assaulting his pregnant wife.

But, the autopsy report has revealed “multiple penetrations” into the victim’s body. Also, the grave and multiple injuries on her body have made many experts suggest that Sanjoy Roy can’t be the only rapist and there are others involved. The outrage against the West Bengal government and Kolkata Police has increased over the suspicion that they are trying to save some influential names.

The controversy further escalated when Sandip Ghosh, the Principal of RG Kar, tried to blame the victim, questioning her presence in the seminar hall at late hours. As protests against him rose, Ghosh resigned but the Mamata Banerjee government instead ‘transferred’ Ghosh making him the Principal of National Medical College (yes, you read it right).

Several students and staffers have claimed Ghosh is a “corrupt” man who used to run the college as an ’empire’. He, reportedly, has very close ties with Trinamool Congress and many are even alleging a deeper involvement of Ghosh in this case. After all, why would a principal responsible for the college administration be made principal of another college, instead of being suspended, after such a horrific episode.

The case has now been transferred to the CBI, that too on the court’s intervention and the exact and complete forensic reports are awaited in the case.

Now, it’s obvious that we all feel emotional and outraged over the incident, but there are certain ‘fake news’ making rounds in the case, which we should be aware of. Firstly, that “150 gm semen in victim’s vagina” is completely false (that would mean the involvement of 100 people). Secondly, it is being circulated that the victim’s family was “offered money for the settlement, which too has been refuted by the police. Thirdly and most importantly, several statements are being posted attributed to Mamata Banerjee, which she has never said. So, definitely, this is a deliberate political attempt at play. There might be some more facts to be unravelled in the case, but so far the Kolkata Police, prima facie, has done a pretty fine job. And, while we seek justice for the victim, as responsible citizens, it is our responsibility to make sure that we don’t get driven away and refrain from spreading false and unverified facts, which might worsen the situation on the ground.

Mamata Banerjee protesting against the Mamata Banerjee government in Kolkata (Photo: AP7AM)

Shameful Response by Mamata government

The case was already very controversial (as every single rape should be), but the way Mamata Banerjee’s government handled the case, took it to the next level. Initially, no WB minister was commenting on it. Some like Mahua Moitra, who are quite ahead in giving lectures on freedom of expression and democracy and women empowerment, were blocking people on Twitter (or X) for asking questions from her on the issue. However, CM Mamata met the victim’s family and assured them of justice, but it was quite late till then.

The protests demanding justice for the trainee doctor intensified, and here again, the Bengal government’s response was stupendous. Instead of taking people into confidence, TMC started labelling protests as being orchestrated by the BJP and the Left. The mega protests on the night of Independence Day saw violence near the RK Kar College, with efforts to vandalise the crime scene. Mamata again accused “Vam and Ram” (veiled reference to Left and BJP) of being behind the “chaos and unrest”. The incident was really serious as the protesting doctors alleged goons threatening RG Kar students with “even more rape incidents.”

The outrage increased when Kolkata Police, instead of focussing on the investigation, was busy sending notices to people for their social media posts. A major protest was planned by football fans after the East Bengal-Mohun Bagan Derby, but the match was cancelled citing “security concerns”. The fans, nevertheless, came together to raise their voices in solidarity with the victim.

Visual from intense protest on the eve of Independence Day (Photo: The Hindu)

But, the hypocrisy reached its peak when CM Mamata Banerjee, along with her leaders, started a ‘protest march’ demanding justice in the case (WTF!). Keeping in mind, that law and order in a state subject, it was no one else but the WB government, whose responsibility it is to provide justice to the trainee doctor. Now, TMC is demanding capital punishment for the accused Sanjoy Roy, within a week, which by no practical means is possible. So, what TMC is effectively trying to do here is divert people’s attention.

The party that boasts of having the “only woman CM” in India and giving “maximum women MPs” in Parliament, if this is its response to a rape incident, the least it can do is feel ashamed. And while it may ask not to ‘politicise’ the issue, I genuinely believe, issues like these need to be politicised. It’s high time that women’s security becomes an issue, which drives voters and makes and breaks governments.

And, yes suddenly, the BJP is trying to seize the opportunity to attack the TMC government (rightfully so) and portray itself as the messiah of women. So let’s just look at its brilliant track record. Well, just two days back, the BJP government in Haryana approved the furlough of rapist Gurmeet Ram Rahim for 21 days, which was the 5th holiday he has enjoyed since getting in jail. In 2022, BJP released the rapists of Bilkis Bano just to score some brownie points in the Gujarat assembly polls. And, I am not even going into the cases of Unnao, Hathras and Kathua.

Football fans of East Kolkata and Mohun Bagan came together in demand for justice (Photo: NDTV)

India’s ‘RAPE’ Problem

Now, I don’t think I even need to say this fact, when a girl is raped every 15 minutes in the country and around 90 cases of rapes take place daily. I have written on several high-profile cases in the past from Kathua, Unnao, and Hathras to many others. But, the sheer frequency of these cases can’t let you write on every single one of them. If you all remember a horrific case from last year where a Spanish tourist was raped by a mob in Jharkhand. The unfortunate incident happened in my home state only, and caused another international embarrassment for our country, as if we want to boast of India as the ‘Rape Capital of the world’.

There is one section of people that believes speedy trials, ie, if rapists are hanged publicly within a few days, it will set the much-needed precedent. But, the counter-argument is presented that since most rape cases are committed by people known to the victim, in many cases close relatives (around 86%), such strong punishment will only reduce the reporting of such cases as victim women will be pressurised within the family to ‘settle’ the case.

The only major thing that can and should be done is to increase the conviction rate in cases of rape. Currently, only 27% rape accused are actually convicted, so over 70% anyways get off. Even in the so high-profile Nirbhaya case, we saw, the rapists of quite a clear-cut case getting hanged only 10 bloody years later. What is equally baffling is that the Nirbhaya Fund, which was set up in 2013 to support measures of women’s protection, 30% of its fund remains unutilised by all the states to date.

Even JS Verma Committee in 2012, gave certain recommendations; redefining rape as being recognised from ‘power’ rather than ‘passion’, 20-year sentence for rape convicts, and other precautionary measures like CCTVs at entrance and exit of police stations, online FIR registration and police reforms. However, even these recommendations remain unfulfilled.

But, the root cause won’t die down with any of these, as it lies somewhere deep, in one’s thinking. Just remember, four rapists in a brutal Hyderabad rape case in 2020 were killed in a police encounter, an action that was widely celebrated, but nothing changed. Now, many would say I am exaggerating a small point, but no. If you listen to the interview of the rapists in the Nirbhaya case, you won’t find any remorse in him. He was proud of what he did and was completely justified in himself.

“A girl has only herself to blame if she goes out at night and attracts the attention of boys,” convicted rapist Mukesh said. “A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy.”

And, if you look at the testimonies of all rapists, you will find similar arrogance, sense of ownership and lack of remorse, because, in his mind, he didn’t do anything wrong, because, in his mind, men are always superior to women and because in his mind, it is justifiable for men to exert his power over women in whatever way possible.

Being a Woman in India

The episode has once again, brought to the fore the precarious condition that women continue to face in India. While we celebrated our 78th Independence Day, we seriously need to question ourselves whether we have any right to celebrate ‘Azaadi’ when our women are not ‘Azaad’ enough.

Today, I feel so helpless and miserable from the point of view of a woman. When you look at a woman getting into the women’s coach in the metro even when seats are available in general coaches, you can imagine, how much harassment and stalking she has faced or expects to face. When you look at a girl adjusting her clothes around her neck and back, even while having a simple conversation, you can understand how uncomfortable she has been made to feel over the years. When a girl reads news like this Kolkata Horror, you can just imagine what goes through her mind, when she knows how dangerous the situation is and literally, she can be the very next victim.

It might sound all very preachy and repetitive, but the root solution to the problem can come only when instead of lecturing women, people educate their ‘son’ about how to respect women. Also, the Indian society, which somehow discourages interactions between boys and girls even from school days, leads to many men becoming perverts, who don’t know how to interact with women and end up developing all sorts of fantasies. Finally, such serious issues need to find a place in family discussions. While aunty ji’s ‘udhaar’ and uncle ji’s attitude might feature in dinner talks in families, these important issues of rape and sexual assaults continue to remain taboo. As long as parents don’t have a frank conversation with their children on these topics, how they imagine, their children understand how serious the issue is.

As I come to the conclusion of my Blog, I would like to apologise to all the girls who have ever faced anything like this, for we have failed them as a society. I myself have many female friends and colleagues, with whom I enjoy having frank and candid conversations. But, never can I even imagine, making them feel uncomfortable. I hope this conscience is developed in this country, but I also know how tedious a task it is to achieve in our Indian society. While we all pray for justice in the Kolkata rape-murder case, we should make sure that all 90 girls who face sexual assault daily and many others whose cases go unreported, don’t have to seek justice in the first place. Without that, any Tiranga DP or caller tune, is not going to achieve the real independence the nation and its women deserve.

JAI HIND